Distant Dreamer
by mdiggory
Summary: I am thinking about all the things I'd like to do in my life, I'm a dreamer. AU, the next chapter of my Brachel series.
1. Chapter 1

**Distant Dreamer**

**Chapter 1: Gives You Hell**

Disclaimer: all characters are the property of the cw and schwahn

The next three months seemed to have past by in a whirlwind of activity for Brooke. Between last minute preparations for Peyton and Lucas' wedding, the country's fluctuating economic situation, her and Rachel's engagement and ultimately public outing, Brooke feels as though she hasn't been able to sit still for more than a minute.

Tilting her head to the side, she taps a finger to her chin mentally calculating how much further she can cinch the corset of Peyton's wedding dress in an effort to make her breast more prominent. Walking a circle around the blond perched on the step stool in the middle of her office, Brooke tiredly rubs the knot forming on the back of her neck and sends a grateful smile to Karen who is double checking the guest list and seating charts.

"Hey! Go easy there Brooke," Peyton yelps, as Brooke readjusts the laces "there's nothing sexy about a bride asphyxiating on her wedding day."

"Beauty is pain Sawyer, P.E. so suck it up."

"I'll remember that little tidbit of wisdom when it's your turn to strut down the aisle Davis, B.P." Peyton grumbles

"Speaking of which," Karen interjects from her comfortable seat on the couch, "have you decided on the venue Brooke?"

Sighing dejectedly, Brooke shakes her head no.

"It's been difficult considering the current laws, North Carolina is definitely out as are the majority of the southern states. Connecticut is really beautiful in the fall, Sam and Rachel scoped out this gorgeous spot in Old Greenwich and a few more in Hartford and Farmington but…I don't know, it just kinda sucks that I was born and raised in this state but am not legally able to be married here."

"I'm sorry sweetie but I wouldn't give up hope, these things have a way of working themselves out and in the end all that matters is that you're spending your life with someone you love." Karen gives her a brief hug.

"I really shouldn't complain, I mean things could have been a whole lot worst when Rachel and I finally went public with our relationship."

"Yeah compared to most other celebrities you guys really dodged a bullet."

"It helped that I had a great support team," Brooke squeezes Peyton's hand, grateful to have her on Team Brachel, "there was a slight decrease in sales but really with these types of revelations one has to expect some form of backlash. The worst was having those annoying TMZ reporters practically camped out on our front lawn."

"How did you manage to get rid of them by the way?" Peyton frowns, remembering the three ring circus that surround the Riverhouse for nearly a month after the _Big Reveal_.

"Sam set off fireworks, they scattered like cockroaches." Brooke laughs "But Davis Enterprises bounced back faster than I imagined, once we opened up the store in Providence Town, Massachusetts, apparently C/B is the super new lesbian chic. Not to mention that sales skyrocketed when Portia and Ellen wore my designs at both the GLAAD and Oscar's."

"That's amazing Brooke," Peyton commends, tugging at the uncomfortable corset, "so all that's left is world domination."

"Rachel has plans to open another store in Tokyo and Sydney, C/B should be global by the end of summer."

"Hey Momma D, you text'd me?" Sam asks, walking into Brooke's office. Her mother is busy putting the final touches on Peyton's wedding gown as a older brunette woman looks on fondly.

"Yes I believe I did," Brooke says, rounding her desk she lifts up a newspaper and points to an article, "care to explain this, Samantha?" Sam skims the heading and with a shrug replies

"Well it's a newspaper, see back in the 1800's there was this invention called the printing press and it…"

"I meant explain to me why my daughter is now a published writer and I had to hear second hand about this amazing article, smartass." rolling her eyes, Brooke kinks her eyebrow at the exasperating teen.

"It's just the school newspaper, hardly the Wall Street Journal." Sam says quietly with deceptive coolness

"Sam this is incredible, we are so proud of you and Rachel already sent a copy down to the art department to have it blown up and framed." Brooke squeals, wrapping the teenager up in a bear hug.

"What your poor employees must go through here." Sam grumbles, pretending to be embarrassed by her mothers display but secretly preening under the unabashed praise.

"Shush," playfully swatting the other girl, Brooke suddenly spins Sam around to face the strange woman grinning at Brooke's antics, "Oh I almost forgot, Karen Roe meet my daughter Sam the next big thing to hit the publishing world."

"Hi Sam, it's nice to finally meet you, Brooke's been singing your praises all morning." Karen greets her warmly

"So she's been regaling you with tales of my dastardly behavior and your still smiling, I must be losing my edge?" Sam smirks when Brooke sighs and shakes her head

"Trust me Sam, with some of the misadventures Brooke had at your age, there's not much that could shock me." Karen laughs at the disconcerting look on Brooke's face

"And on that note, I believe someone needs to get back to school before she get's yet another detention." Brooke ushers Sam towards the door.

"I should get going, my friend Eugenia is waiting for me at the diner to grab a quick lunch before we head back to class."

"Okay, drive safe and don't forget to…"

"Yeah yeah, always wear my helmet, obey all traffic rules, _To Serve Man _is a cookbook, I know the drill." Sam drones.

"Whatever smartass, dinner is at 7."

"It was nice to meet you Ms. Roe, later Peyt, bye mom." and the sincerity in which Sam always says the title mom, never ceases to bring a smile to Brooke's face.

* * *

The greasy spoon that Sam frequently patronages was in no means because of it's fine cuisine, in fact about the only thing remotely edible was the coffee but it was still a step up from the bland school lunches and thus the only reason she was able to entice Eugenia into coming here day after day.

While her friend complains about her soggy fries Sam scans the small diner in search of a familiar face. Nearly a year ago Sam had managed to track her birth mother down, Maureen Walker worked as a waitress at this very diner and Sam would come in here at least four times a week trying to muster up the courage to introduce herself. For years she had dreamed of being reunited with the woman who gave her up or at the very least finally get the answers as to why her mother abandoned her, but since being adopted by Rachel and Brooke she felt that need slowly begin to fade.

Now she comes to the diner mainly out of habit instead of the pressing urge to reconnect with her birth mother. Sneaking a glance at the woman behind the counter, Sam furrows her brow at the unfamiliar face.

"I'm gonna get a refill," she says, lifting her half empty coffee mug up and nodding towards the counter, "do you want anything else?"

Eugenia throws down the undercooked fry in disgust and reaches for her strawberry milkshake to wash the taste out of her mouth, "Nah, we should be heading back to campus soon anyway, just grab the check, I gotta use the bathroom."

Sam leans on her elbows along the edge of the counter and waits patiently for the young woman to notice her.

"Can I get you anything else?" the girl asks, coffeepot poised over Sam's mug

"The check and maybe answer a question?" she asks uncertainly, the girl pulls her order pad from her apron, ripping off the correct bill and nods her head in agreement. "There's a woman who works here, I think her name is Maureen she's around your height, brown hair…"

"Yeah, I know her but she doesn't work here anymore." the girl, Sarah her nametag reads, gives a little noise of discontent. Leaning forward she beckons Sam closer as she whispers, "She was fired about a week ago, boss caught her stealing food, even threatened to have her arrested, can't say that I don't blame her the pay here sucks."

"Do you…you wouldn't happen to know where she lives do you?" at the suspicious look Sarah gives her Sam quickly adds, "She's family, we lost touch and I don't know how else to reach her."

Sarah seems to roll that request over in her mind for a minute, then shrugs as if she considers Sam harmless.

"I gave her a ride home once, she lives in a trailer park just outside of town, Belleview Gardens." and with that she collects Sam's money, makes change and goes off to help the next customer.

"Why is it that bathroom is always out of paper towels? I had to dry my hands with toilet paper." Eugenia whines, picking the wet pieces of tissue off of her hands, "Ready to go?"

"Think you can walk the two blocks back to school, I'm not feeling well?"

"Told you not to eat that pie, I don't care what the menu says blueberries don't look like that." Eugenia snorts, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a stomach ache," not entirely caused by the faux blueberry pie, but Sam decides to run with the excuse, "I'll call you later."

As they exit the diner, Sam waits until Eugenia turns the corner before cranking the engine on her Vestpa and heading towards the main road leading out of Tree Hill. Ten minutes later she pulls to a stop at the unkempt plot of land known as Belleview Gardens. A survey of the mailboxes leads her to Walker, M trailer that's rapidly being overgrown by weeds and grass in desperate need of mowing. Unbuckling her helmet strap and sliding off the scooter, Sam cautiously approaches the door.

She pauses with her hand poised to knock, '_What exactly did she plan to say? Would her birth mother even want to see her?'_ It's obvious that Maureen doesn't recognize her own daughter, even when Sam sat across from the woman as she poured the girl a cup of coffee. Sam is just rethinking plowing into this situation without a plan, when the distressing sounds of a child crying filters through the thin metal door. The child sounds as though it may be seriously hurt, so against her better judgment she knocks and waits. And waits, three minutes and the kid is still screaming it's lungs out. She casts a look around the deserted trailer park, then reaches for the doorknob, not sure whether to be grateful or scared that it's unlocked. Pushing the door open just a crack, Sam takes a deep breath to call out to anyone but the smell that hits her nostrils causes her to instantly gag. She covers her mouth in an attempt not to retch all over the dirty orange carpet yet as she catches a glance at the scene huddled in the far left corner of the filthy trailer, Sam loses the battle with her stomach.

"**Holy Shhh…"**

a/n: Cruel to end it there but I love a good cliffhanger. So this is the next part of the series, the title is from the song by Duffy and now that their relationship is public knowledge things will be moving along for the Brachel fam. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions, feel free to email me.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'll be busy for the next few days and because of the good response I received, I didn't want to leave you guys waiting. Enjoy!

**Distant Dreamer**

**Chapter 2: An Uphill Battle**

Disclaimer: All of the OTH characters are the property of the CW and Mark Schwahn, and Beckett is the property of Barry Schindel and ABC

Time spent in the company of Bevin Smith, née Mirskey, is always a hoot, Rachel muses as she and her quirky blond friend are leaving the Pier-side Café. Rummaging in her soft pink Mark Jacobs Little Stam bag, an earnest smile spreads across her face upon hearing the chorus of _The Ting Tings- That's Not My Name_, Brooke's ringtone, sound through the quilted leather.

"Hey Skankerella, keep your panties on I'll be back at the office in…" Rachel pauses at her car and Bevin stops short as her lunch companion goes deathly pale. "is she okay? Where are you now? I'll be there in five minutes." Rachel balances the phone between her head and shoulder, with shaky hands she fumbles with her car keys and gets into the car. "I love you, both of you." Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she opens her mouth to explain to Bevin what's going on but in a rare moment of lucidity, Bevin waves away her words and beseeches Rachel to '_go take care of her family_.' Rachel smiles gratefully at her friend and peels out of the parking lot, heading towards the Tree Hill Police Department.

* * *

In interrogation room #2, Detective Kate Beckett places a Styrofoam cup of coffee and a handful of creamer cups down in front of a teenage girl and a woman who can't be more than a few years older then the distraught kid. Turning to close the blinds of the window overlooking the Squadroom, she spies several of her fellow male officers congregating near the window, attempting to gawk at the young woman gently stroking the teenager's mousy brown hair. Giving her co-workers her best _'you should be more professional'_, glare Detective Beckett shuts the blinds with a snap and takes a seat at the table.

"I just have a few questions and then you're free to go Ms. Davis." receiving a nod of acceptance the detective sighs as she flips through the case file in her hands, "The M.E. places the time of death approximately 72 hours ago, the cause of death is an apparent drug overdose. May I ask, how did you know the deceased, Maureen Walker?"

"She's…uh she was my birth mother," pausing Sam wipes the tears from her face, leaning into Brooke as her mother squeezes her shoulders, comfortingly. "When I was 4, she dropped me off at an orphanage and never looked back. About a year ago I tracked her down here in Tree Hill."

"I see, and how were you able to identify Ms. Walker as your birth mother?"

"Her name was on my birth certificate and I got her social security number off my records from the state. Twenty bucks and WiFi access bought me her last three known places of employment." the teen gives a humorless laugh.

"The diner on Center Street?" the detective asks, shuffling papers around. "I know this is difficult but can you walk me through how you ended up discovering the deceased?"

"Like I told the other officers, I tracked her down to the diner where she worked. She didn't know me or if she did, she didn't show it, the place is close by my school so my friends and I have lunch there a lot. But the last couple of times I've been in I didn't see her so I asked one of the waitress' and she said that my… Maureen got caught stealing food and was fired."

"What made you decide to visit your birth mother after all of these years?"

"I've been living with Brooke since late November, four months ago she adopted me." smiling at her adoptive mother and drawing strength to continue, "I guess I just wanted to let her know that I'm okay, that I found a good home with people that love me." a cacophony of raised voices and high heels clacking angrily against linoleum echoes down the hall, the door banging open startles the occupants and a mass of auburn hair comes barreling inside.

"Sammy, are you alright? Is she okay, Brooke?" Rachel doesn't give either of them a chance to answer as she engulfs Sam in a smothering hug.

Recognizing the red head from a recent celebrity news segment on _Extra_ as former supermodel and Brooke Davis' fiancée, Detective Beckett waves off the irate officers hovering in the doorway. "Ms. Gattina, my name is Detective Beckett, if you'd like to take seat I only have a few more questions then you're free to take your daughter home."

After much reassurance from her daughter and fiancée, Rachel pulls up a chair on the other side of Sam, lacing her fingers through Brooke's hand resting on the back of Sam's chair and motions for the detective to continue.

"Alright Sam, after the waitress gave you the address, what did you find when you arrived at the trailer park?" There was no easy way to ask the teenager to describe what she found, but Beckett put on her most solemn face and waits patiently for the girl to compose herself.

"I pulled up to the trailer and knocked, no one answered but I could hear a kid inside screaming his head off." stacking the creamer cups into a pyramid, Sam avoids eye contact as she relays the traumatic account, "I waited a few minutes then tried the doorknob. As soon as I opened the door this _smell_, like roadkill sitting out in the sun for too long, hit me and in the corner was a little boy, sitting next to his…_our_ mother, dead."

* * *

Closing the door of Sam's bedroom quietly, Brooke enters the kitchen to find Rachel holding the refrigerator door open wide, staring blankly at the contents inside.

"She's finally dozed off," her raspy voice startling Rachel, "cried herself to sleep."

Shutting the fridge, Rachel moves to the cabinet, vacuously searching the well stocked shelves. "Detective Beckett said that Maureen's neighbors didn't think she had any friends and judging by the fact that she was dead for a few days and no one noticed, the police are assuming she didn't have any family either." Brooke watches warily as Rachel approaches the kitchen island empty handed. "So I was thinking that it would be a good thing for Sam to be able to say goodbye properly to her mother and I'd like to arrange for her burial."

Rachel is quiet for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that'll be good for Sam to see her birth mother properly laid to rest. Listen you have enough going on, what with the Pucas wedding in a few days, I'll handle the funeral arrangements." there's a strange tremor in her voice that Brooke can't quite place.

Mulling over the events of the past five hours, from when she received Sam's shocking phone call from the police station, to the frantic call she then made to Rachel, Brooke ponders what could be the cause of her fiancée's morose mood.

Then it hits her like a ton of bricks and when Rachel meets her gaze she knows the girl is thinking the exact same thing. It's like some bizarro form of déjà vu, only Maureen wasn't as lucky as Rachel had been. Brooke and Owen arrived less than an hour after Rachel overdosed, it had taken three days before Maureen's body had been discovered and to make matters worse, three days that the five year old boy sat incomprehensively by his dead mother's decaying body.

Tears moisten Rachel's haunted brown eyes, Brooke pulls the other girl into her arms rocking her back and forth. Rachel clings desperately to Brooke as if she's her only tether holding her to this world. This is every junkies worst nightmare, that one last hit that you never come back from. Once again Rachel sends up a silent thank you to whatever deity is listening, for sending Brooke and Owen to New York that day, she'll just ignore the real reason Brooke brought Owen to her loft.

"I love you," she whispers into Brooke's ear

"I love you too," Brooke answers, leaning back she stares Rachel in the eyes knowing that there's more the girl wants to say.

"I'm gonna head out for a while, will you be alright here with Sam for about an hour?"

"Yeah, I gave her a cup of warm milk, it smelled disgusting but Haley swears it always calms Jamie down after he has a bad dream. She should be out for a couple of hours yet."

"Good, I need to go to a meeting, there's one starting at the hospital in a bit." Kissing Brooke gently, she sweeps the bangs out of her eyes and grabs her purse. Brooke lets out a relieved breath as though she feared this tragedy might have an adverse reaction to Rachel's sobriety.

"Take as long as you need, your family will be waiting for you when you get back Rach."

* * *

Eyes tracking the light blue line painted on the floor, Rachel walks slowly through the hospital's quiet and sterile corridors. The AA meeting had been just what she needed to reinforce her aspirations of staying sober. Before she even realizes how or why she ended up in this ward, Rachel is staring through the plate glass doors of the Children's Intensive Care Unit of New Brunswick Memorial Hospital.

"May I help you?" a nurse in salmon colored scrubs asks from behind a desk.

"Um…" Rachel pauses before lifting her chin haughtily, adopting the demeanor she has often seen her mother use in situations when she knew for certain she had no authority but still intended to get her way. "I'm here to see a young boy, Ethan Walker, he was brought in early this afternoon."

The nurse eyes her suspiciously for a moment but soon crumbles under Rachel's resolute stare. Typing the name into her computer the nurse makes a tsking noise as she reads the doctor's notes. "Ethan has been declared a ward of the state and I'm not at liberty to admit anyone into his room without valid identification Ms…?"

"Gattina," Rachel answers, deciding to switch tactics and play upon the woman's sympathy, "I just wanted to know if he was doing alright, you see my daughter was the one who discovered his mother's body. She has been very distressed by this entire ordeal but mainly she's been concerned about the poor boys welfare and I wanted to at least get some information on him to ease her mind."

The nurse's expression morphs into one of sorrowful understanding, she sneaks a look around them checking for interlopers and says in a hush tone, "He was severely dehydrated when the EMT's brought him in and malnourished as well, we had him started on a saline drip. He's resting comfortably now but the doctor's had to sedate him when it became apparent that his agitation wasn't due to the traumatic events but a behavioral disorder. He's to be seen by Psych first thing in the morning, it will be a few days before he can start back on solid foods but his prognoses is well, considering."

"Thank you, my little girl will be glad to hear that Ethan is going to be fine."

* * *

The entire drive home the nurse's words echoed in her head, malnourished…behavioral disorder. She wasn't lying when she said her daughter had inquired about the boys' well being, upon learning that she had a younger sibling Sam had asked where was he to go now that the only living relative the police had records of was gone. Parking her car, Rachel lifts her purse and the bags of take-out food, an idea tentatively forming in her mind.

The house is dark but Rachel maneuvers gracefully to the kitchen, placing the rapidly cooling Thai food in the fridge. She tip toes over to Sam's room cracking the door open enough to peak her head inside. Brooke is curled up on the bed next to Sam who is still fast asleep. The sight of her family causes a warm and fuzzy feeling to spread through her chest and Rachel scoffs at how sentimental she has become. The light noise draws Brooke's attention to the door, she gives Rachel a wan smile, kisses the top of Sam's head and eases herself out of the bed.

"You didn't have to get up," Rachel says, as she quietly closes Sam's door, "I just wanted to see how she's doing and let you know I'm back."

"It's okay, I was about to head back upstairs anyway. Sam made me promise only to stay until she fell asleep, apparently watching her sleep is creepy and I was to vacate her room once she entered R.E.M."

Rachel shakes her head at the weirdness of her family, taking Brooke's hand she leads her upstairs to their bedroom. Kicking off her Jimmy Choo's, she strategically places them back on her shelf in their shared walk-in closet. Her shoulders are stiff with tension so when Brooke suggests a bath, she doesn't hesitate to shed the rest of her clothing.

The water is hot, just the way she likes it, add in the scented candles, jets pulsating around her tired body and Nina Simone softly playing in the background and this is one of those perfect moments that makes everything worthwhile. Brooke tentatively glides into the bathtub, sighing contently as Rachel pulls her flush against her body, resting her head back on Rachel's chest. They sit in companionable silence, listening to Nina's sorrowful voice belting out emotionally powerful lyrics about love and lost.

"Did it help, going to the meeting?" Brooke inquires

"It was depressing yet beneficial, so yeah."

"You were gone for more than an hour, I'm not trying to be _that_ girl who keeps track of your every move but…"

"I went to check on the kid." Rachel interrupts before Brooke's insecurities have a chance to run amuck.

"Sam's little brother?"

"Yeah, the nurse said he was in bad shape, hadn't eaten in a few days and to top it off they suspect he has some form of mental disability. They're going to run more test in the morning to determine to what degree but she said that he should be okay in a few days."

"Then what happens to him?"

"Foster care I suppose." Rachel shrugs

"Sam and I were talking about him earlier," Brooke says, she lifts her hand letting droplets of water cascade down Rachel's arm then traces patterns into her soft skin. "and I was thinking, if you're okay with it, that we could maybe look into him staying here, with us? What do you think?"

"I think we spend way too much time together," Rachel laughs at Brooke's perplexed expression, "Our thought patterns must be synchronized cause I was thinking the same thing."

"So you're alright with fostering another child even though we're planning to get pregnant soon?" Brooke asks skeptically

"We've only just started the search for a sperm donor," Rachel shrugs, "it could take a while to find the perfect match. Besides you don't want to look like a _Hungry Hungry Hippo_ on our wedding day right? Not that there'll be much of a difference, mind you." smirking, she attempts to dodge the sudsy water her lover splashes at her. "This could be good for Sam, having a link to her birth mother and if Ethan does have a disability we have the resources to provide him with the best care for his condition."

"Agreed, I'll call the agency first thing in the morning. You know, this whole synchronized thinking isn't half bad. We should do more couplely things?" Brooke muses, adjusting the massage jets to a higher level

"I draw the line at matching outfits. Your wardrobe is way too skanky, even for me."

a/n: Detective Beckett was borrowed from one of my favorite new shows, _Castle._ There's no real significance of her appearance other than me loving Stana Katic. I've got the majority of what I think might happen mapped out but as I've stated before what actually ends up in each chapter depends solely on whatever pops into my head once I start typing. So let me know what you think, reviews keep me focused.


	3. Chapter 3

**Distant Dreamer**

**Chapter 3: Better In Time**

Disclaimer: characters are the property of the cw and schwahn

Contrary to what television and movies would have you believe, at the time a person is buried the headstone normally does not reside in the spot above the grave. Really, if you do the math and calculate how many people die each day, by accident and/or natural causes, and factor in the amount of time it takes to chisel out a name, birthday, date of death and a sentimental message there's just no way a company could produce that many headstones on such short notice.

Sam shakes her in an attempt to rid herself of these inane thoughts. True to their word Brooke and Rachel managed to arrange a simple yet elegant funeral for Sam's birth mother. As the dark grey casket is lowered into the ground Sam is conflicted on how she should feel, on the one hand this person was her mother, giver of life. On the other, Maureen Walker was a total stranger that abandoned her 12 years ago and didn't even recognize Sam as she poured her coffee everyday for months. Then there's the question of why Sam was given away but Maureen chose to keep Ethan, her brother. Did Maureen like Ethan's father better than Sam's and that's why he stayed? Did Maureen intend to give Ethan away like she did with Sam? Was Sam actually taken away by the state because of Maureen's drug addiction and inability to care for her daughter? There were so many questions left to be answered and the one person that held the truth was now being lowered six feet into the ground.

Brooke hands Sam a white rose and gives her a little push towards the retreating casket, after Sam says her silent goodbye to the woman who gave her life she steps back into the waiting arms of her loving mothers. The minister gives his final blessing and the tiny crowd of people disperses, giving their condolences to Sam as they head for their cars. How sad, Sam muses that out of the seven people who attended the funeral, Sarah, the waitress from the diner, was the only person who actually knew the deceased. Nathan, Haley and Karen simply came to show support for Brooke and herself and that little act of kindness just made Sam love them even more.

In the back of the limo, Sam stretches out and lays her head in Rachel's lap.

"I've made some inquiries about little Ethan," Brooke's raspy voice sounds from Rachel's left side, "he's been temporarily place with a foster family but they're not sure how long the parents will be able to care for him. They already have four other kids and because of his behavioral disorder, they're having trouble connecting to him."

"What did the doctor's determine he has?" Sam lifts her head to question her mother

"It's called Asperger's Syndrome. It's a developmental disorder in which people have severe difficulties understanding how to interact socially. He was misdiagnosed at the free clinic when he was three as being autistic but further testing confirmed that while he has traits similar to those with autism he has an above average intelligence and has a slightly better handle of his fine motor skills."

"This illness, was it because Maureen was using while she was pregnant?" Sam asks in a small voice filled with concern.

"I don't think so Sam, from everything I've read about this disorder it appears to be genetic."

"So I might some day pass it along to my kids?"

"Statistically, only 3 out of 10,000 people have been diagnosed with Asperger's so I would assume it's unlikely. I saved all of the material I've researched on the subject just incase you wanted to read it for yourself." Sam smiles gratefully and rests her head once again in Rachel's lap as the redhead returns to running her fingers idly through the teenagers mousy locks.

* * *

With the Leyton wedding over, Brooke finally has enough time to refocus her attention to more important matters. The past two and a half weeks, the state has been stonewalling her on the petition to adopt Sam's half brother Ethan. In a way she's not the least bit surprised they are being so difficult, when it was just her attempting to give a child a home the adoption agency put her through the ringer interviewing her friends, family and business associates and in the end she was still rejected on the basis that she would be a single working mother. Now, she is still working but she's also engaged to a woman with a history of drug abuse, somehow Brooke doesn't imagine that would endear them to the ultra conservative officials.

"Hey, got a minute?" Rachel asks, popping her head into Brooke's office.

"For you skank, I've got two." she replies with a wry smirk

"Grab your purse slutface, I have a surprise for you." without waiting for an answer, Rachel heads for the elevator, leaving Brooke sitting at her desk contemplating if it's wise to skip out of work at 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, she shrugs grabbing her iphone and a stack of folders, shoving them into her briefcase and leaving instructions with Lisa, her assistant. "Hurry up Davis we're burning daylight!" If not for the fact that Rachel's surprises has a tendency to end in extremely pleasurable ways, Brooke might have been more offended by the redheads gruffness.

"Are we almost there?" Brooke whines for what has to be the fourth time in five minutes since Rachel blindfolded her and began to drive off to parts unknown.

"I swear to the Lord God my Savior, Brooke if you ask me that one more time, I'm gonna open up your door and kick you out of my car!" Rachel sighs, irritated by her lover's innate inability to sit still for two seconds.

"Well what did you expect," Brooke pouts, "you blindfold me, tell me to get in the car and not say anything for hours. You're lucky I'm such a trusting person otherwise I'd be dialing 911 and reporting a kidnapping."

"Okay, first we've only been driving for no more than seven minutes, second you _let_ me blindfold you, third you got into the car of your own free will and fourth, your ass is _way_ too old for it to be labeled kidnapping." Rachel laughs as Brooke swings her arm in her direction and misses her mark. "That's it, next time I'm bringing a ball gag and I'm tying you up."

"Promises, promises." Brooke's lips form a flirty smile as she leans back in her seat, listening to the noises outside her window, trying to determine their location. The SUV takes a turn onto a side road and makes it's way down a winding gravel driveway, coming to a stop moments later.

"We're here," Rachel announces as she cuts the engine, gets out of the car and hurries to the other side to help Brooke step down. Positioning herself behind the brunette, Rachel counts to three then rips the blindfold off of Brooke's face. "Surprise."

Brooke blinks repeatedly as her eyes adjust to the suddenly bright afternoon sunlight, when she's able to focus properly her eyes widen at the sight before her.

"Do you like it?" Rachel asks somewhat nervously, spying Brooke's stunned expression.

"Is this…what is this Rach?" Brooke asks nonplussed

"It's a house, genius." She answers in a sarcastic tone. Brooke throws her that, '_no shit Sherlock' _look and she continues a little more sincerely, "more importantly it's our house. What do you think?"

"It's incredible." awestruck, Brooke gapes at her fiancée and back at the house or more accurately, mansion. Greek Revival style, she recalls from some art class she'd once taken, a massive white building with blue and white wisteria festooning around the Doric capitals. Three marble steps leading up to a spacious porch and a solid oak door.

"Come on," Rachel grabs her hand, snapping Brooke out of her stupor, "let me show you the rest of the place." the foyer was sparsely decorated with a table and a vase of purple orchids, an intricate chandelier hanging high above their heads, beyond that a staircase leading to the second floor. "To the left is the sitting room," Rachel begins the tour, "and beyond that is a sunroom. To the right is a library which connects to a small study, I figured you could transform it into a workroom or something. Straight ahead and down this hall leads to the kitchen and dining room and to the left of that is a ballroom." Brooke gives her a look and she puts up her hands in defense, "yeah, pretentious I know but we do a lot of entertaining and fund raising for C/B, it' just more cost efficient if we host at least half of them here. Downstairs there's a media room as well as a billiard room with an antique pool table, thought you might like that," she smirks at the competitive gleam in Brooke's eyes, "upstairs there are 10 bedrooms a bathroom in nearly all of them but hang on I wanna show you the backyard."

"It's about time you guys got here," Sam grumbles as her mothers step through the door leading to the massive backyard. Square flagstones were set in a diamond pattern against the limestone balustrades which broke the patio into distinct rectangles and marked off paths which met at right angles, framing both the garden and the house. Little Greek statues were placed at the corners of the octagonal shaped pool and the neatly clipped green grass seemed to stretch on for miles. "I've already scoped out a spot to put up my half pipe, there's even enough space for a small obstacle course."

"What do ya say Brooke," Rachel asks apprehensively

Brooke takes a moment to digest this latest development, she hadn't been aware that Rachel was looking for another house but it made sense considering their plan to expand their family. They would need the extra space but this place felt too much like the house she grew up in, a pretty yet hollow museum that she only inhabited to throw wild parties and occasionally sleep. There's a niggling doubt in the back of her mind screaming that this is all moving too fast but at the hopeful look on Sam and Rachel's faces, Brooke can't bring herself to object.

"I say, how soon can we move in?" she smiles tentatively as Rachel pulls her in for a kiss and Sam immediately runs back inside to claim her new bedroom. Laughing outright when the teen states that it will most likely be the bedroom far enough away from theirs so that she doesn't have to hear their nightly sexcapades.

A/N: This chapter was kinda short and boring but needed to move the story along. To anyone who might object on my take of Asperger's Syndrome let me just state now that I have worked for years with people with mental disabilities ranging from mild to sever and my take on Ethan's condition is not meant to classify everyone who has this disorder, nor is it meant to offend. Oh, and that thing about the headstones, it's been my experience that they are not present at the time of burial and I can't remember if it's because a rush order would be too costly or if it's just the way things are.


	4. Chapter 4

**Distant Dreamer**

Disclaimer: all characters are the property of the cw and schwahn

**Chapter 4: Say What You Need To Say**

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner," Brooke asks, handing a tearful Peyton a box of Kleenex.

"Come on Brooke, I've already asked way too much of you lately. For crying out loud, you planned my wedding to the first boy you fell in love with. That took so much strength…I don't know I guess I felt guilty about dumping this on you as well."

"Alright you listen to me Peyton Elizabeth Scott, you are my best friend and there is nothing too awkward that you can't talk to me about." Peyton breathes a sigh of relief at the honesty of Brooke's words.

"Really Brooke, cause I would think telling you my husband might be impotent would be one of the last things you'd want to discuss?"

"I'll admit it's gotta be right up in the top five, but this isn't just about Lucas' little swimmers or their lack of aquatic skills. It affects you as well, I know you were really hoping to start a family right away. Wait until you get the next test results back before you resign yourself to the fact that he made not be able to father a child. And you know, just because Luke can't reproduce doesn't mean you two won't have children."

"Yeah, that's another thing, with his HCM and the whole scuffle with the Board of Education firing him, how appealing do you think we'll look to the adoption agencies?"

"True," Brooke concedes, " I mean Rach and I are having a rough enough time trying to adopt Ethan and he's Sam's half brother. But don't worry Peyt, we'll figure something out."

"Hello sweetheart." a knock on her office door distracts Brooke from Peyton's depressing news.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" standing to hug her father, Brooke throws Rachel a questioning glance as the red head leans against the doorjamb.

"I had to take care of some family business." Charles answers vaguely

"What sort of family business?" she narrows her eyes in suspicion.

"Why don't I let Rachel fill you in, for now I must be going, I have a flight to catch." kissing her forehead he neatly sidesteps her questions, "Congratulations, when you're all settled Diane and I would love for you, Rachel and the kids to come for a visit. I must hurry, take care darling, goodbye Rachel, Peyton."

"Bye, Mr. Davis."

"Later Charles, and thanks again you have no idea how much this means to us." Rachel hugs her future father-in-law farewell.

"What, _what_ means…_kids_, what's he talking about Rach?" Brooke stammers in confusion.

"I called Charles to give him a heads up and to expect the state to be contacting him regarding Ethan's adoption. I wanted to be sure he was on our side so we wouldn't be blindsided like you were with Victoria when she blasted you out of spite. Anyway, I explained to your dad that we were running into difficulties and he said he has an old golf buddy who's a judge in Family Court. Long story short, he flew out here, had a meeting with Judge Morgan and first thing on the docket tomorrow morning will be the adoption of Ethan Walker to Brooke Davis and Rachel Gattina." smiling smugly, Rachel tosses her fiery mane and kisses a stunned Brooke before turning back to the door. "I have to finish reading the latest report from R and D but let's knock off early to get our little boy's room ready, okay?"

"Why do I get the impression that this isn't exactly good news?" Peyton asks, carefully watching Brooke stare off into space.

* * *

Helping Haley clear away the last of the dinner plates, Brooke gnashes her teeth as she listens to Sam and Rachel gush about their new house, Mayfair Manor. Karen passes Sam's digital camera to Andy and Mouth, giving the young girl her full attention as she talks excitedly about her half brother coming to live with them. Brooke has no idea why she's so irritated, this is what they wanted right? Ethan will be arriving the day after tomorrow, the new house was in perfect condition, a few minor adjustments and their little family will be moving in by the end of the week. Yes, everything was perfect, perfect house, perfect family, perfect perfect perfect!

Slamming the plate down on the counter top with a bit more force than necessary, Brooke exhales deeply, brushes the bangs out of her eyes and looks up to find Haley, Peyton and Millie staring at her in concern.

"I know you're not a fan of brussels sprouts but could you please refrain from taking revenge out on my chinaware, Brooke?" Haley quips

"Sorry." Brooke mutters an apology

"S'okay, anything you want to talk about?" glancing around at the other girls to see if they have picked up on the weird vibe Brooke's been throwing off all night. Per usual, Millie's on the scent, now she just has to wait a few moments for Peyton to catch up.

"It's nothing, yet at the same time everything, you know?" Brooke asks and at the confused looks she gets in return, sighs in frustration.

"Do you…are you rethinking the whole marriage thing?" Peyton inquires, "Cause if you are Brooke, no one would blame you, I mean this is all happening really fast and…"

"No, I'm not…marrying Rachel is the one thing that I am absolutely sure of," Brooke says with conviction, staring down at her left hand she twists the three carat pear shaped diamond engagement ring around her finger. "It's all the other stuff that's all jumbled up."

"What other stuff, sweetie?"

"Yeah Brooke," Rachel's voice full of hurt cuts into their conversation, "what _stuff_ has you acting like a complete ass to me all night?"

Moving their argument out onto the patio for some semblance of privacy, Rachel opens her mouth to lay into Brooke for giving her the cold shoulder all evening but Brooke beats her to the punch.

"It's not that I'm not happy Ethan's with us…"

"That doesn't look like your happy face, Brooke. You said you were okay with adopting him, what's changed?"

"I'm more than okay with the adoption but I wanted to do this the right way, no cutting corners or hiding who we are and _definitely_ not being indebted to my dad."

"All Charles wants in return is a chance to be apart of our lives."

"Yeah, that's more or less the same line Victoria fed to me once upon a time." Brooke scoffs, " Next thing I know she has control over my company and every aspect of my life, telling me what to say, what to wear, who to date. I can't go through that again, I won't relinquish that type of control to anyone ever again."

"Is that what you think I'm doing, trying to control you?" Rachel takes a step back, Brooke's words feeling like a slap to her face, "Do you feel like I'm _forcing_ all of this on you, Brooke?"

"Rach, God no!" throwing her hands up futilely the words not forming correctly. "I…it sometimes feels like you're doing all of this because you think it's what I want. I don't want you to wake up five, ten years from now resenting me for trapping you into…"

"**I am not Victoria!"** Rachel's yell pierces through the quiet night, startling her lover with it's intensity, "Brooke, there is nothing you could do that would make me resent you. Yes, I want to give you a family because I know it would make you happy and you being happy makes _me_ happy." Shaking her head, Rachel takes a deep breath to calm herself, "He's Sam's brother, we have the means to provide him with all of the love and care he needs. I thought you of all people would gladly jump at the chance to do that?"

"I am it's just…this is…"

"It's what Brooke? Fucking spit it out already!"

"I'm scared okay?!" Tears are welling in her eyes and Brooke looks so vulnerable and frightened that it breaks Rachel's heart. "This, us it's everything I've ever wanted and I'm terrified that if I make one wrong move…it'll vanish. I love you Rachel, I can't lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere Brooke." using her thumb, Rachel brushes the tears that are now falling in earnest down Brooke's face, "I have loved you for years and I will love you for the rest in my life. I'm not going to leave you, I swear."

"Because I have permission to push you down the stairs, right?"

"Because I can't live without you, believe me I've tried, it sucks." resting thier foreheads together, Rachel soaks up the amazing feeling of have Brooke in her arms, "I promise that I'm never gonna shut you out of any big life decisions, but I need you to do the same, alright? At any time you feel like I'm pressuring you, just say so." Planting a soft kiss to Brooke's pouty lips, one passionate kiss leads to two and the next thing Rachel knows she backing Brooke up to the glass patio table, trying to counterbalance their weight, while her hands travel franticly up Brooke's curvaceous body.

"Somehow I don't think Haley would appreciate us getting naked on her patio." Brooke moans as Rachel's tongue does that swirly thing she loves so much, while rocking her hips against Brooke's.

"Please, you could dance naked on her coffee table and tutor-bitch would still think the sun shines out of your enormous ass. I, on the other hand, will be banned from the _House of Naley_, for life so keep the decimal level down." As their kisses grow more heated and the threat of being discovered only serves to add to the intensity of the moment, Brooke pulls away with great reluctance.

"Take me home," Brooke pants "get me out of this dress." grabbing her lover by the hand Rachel attempts to straighten her clothes and hair so it won't be too obvious what they were doing once the yelling stopped and hurries back inside to make hasty farewells.

* * *

"_I am not Victoria!" _Rachel's shout seems to reverberate throughout the dining room, Haley busies herself with handing out slices of the strawberry cheesecake, as Karen unsuccessfully attempts to distract Sam from her parents argument.

"They never fight." Sam says, warily eyeing the patio doors.

"Sam, honey everyone argues now and then. Relationships require a lot of work and compromise, you won't always agree with one another but that doesn't mean that Brooke and Rachel don't love each other." Karen tries to pacify the teen.

"Yeah I know that but they never _really_ fight," Sam states again, trying to convey how out of the ordinary this situation is, "sure they have these weird little arguments that's half flirting and half squabbles, but they've never been seriously angry. I just don't know why Brooke's so upset, this was her idea after all? She been in a funk since Rachel bought our new house and even moodier when she found out her dad helped with Ethan's adoption. I don't get it, she wouldn't go through with the adoption unless she wanted to right?"

"Well taking in a child with special needs is a huge responsibility." Lucas butts into the conversation between his mother and Sam, ignoring the stern looks of disapproval from Nathan, Haley and Karen. "It's not like with baby Angie where the doctor's patched her up and she was good to go. This is a life long, emotionally draining commitment and all I'm saying is that maybe they haven't thought this through completely. How does Brooke know that Rachel isn't going to flake out on her when things get rough or start using again. The woman just shows up one day and Bam! She's living in Brooke's house, running Brooke's company and now all of a sudden their engaged?" his tirade annoys everyone but it's Sam who has finally had enough of his vitriolic comments concerning her mothers.

"Dude, seriously what is your malfunction! You guys have been over for years, move on already! I mean from everything I've heard you were a shitty boyfriend anyway and if you keep obsessing over Brooke this way you're shaping up to be a shitty husband as well."

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, you little brat." Lucas seethes, much to the other dinner guests scandalized gasps, Nathan places a hand on his brother's shoulder letting the other man know that he is way out of line. Before Sam can retaliate Brooke's infectious giggles breaks through the tension in the dinning room.

"Thanks for a lovely evening Haley but we should get going."

"You're leaving already, we were just having dessert?" Haley looks nervously between Lucas and Sam.

"Yeah, sorry but it's almost bedtime." Rachel smothers her laugh as Brooke hip bumps her.

"Stop." the brunette whispers

"You stop." Rachel responds coquettishly

"Bedtime, but it's only…oh?" Andy's face burns beet red when he catches their meaning.

"Sam, grab our stuff and thanks again Hales, we'll be sure to invite all of you over once we're settled in the new house."

"So, you've decided you're moving after all?" Peyton asks confused at the complete 180 Brooke has pulled within the past ten minutes.

"We were always going to move," Brooke states, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "the house is spectacular and we need the extra room. I just enjoy giving Rach a hard time."

"Brooke's not happy unless she's being a sever pain in the ass." Rachel drolls, and Sam returns with their coats and purses.

"I can't help it, you look so adorable when you're aggravated." Brooke coos, "Your face gets all red making your freckles stand out and your eyes flash this amazing shade of gold like a werewolf," lowering her voice to a seductive purr, "and if I've been an especially _naughty_ girl you'll…"

"Okay," Sam interrupts, ushering the pair to the front door, "say goodnight Gracie." Taking their leave amongst a chorus of goodnights, drive safe and call me tomorrows, Sam shakes her head at her perpetually horny parents. "I'd offer to drive us home but I'm afraid what the two of you would get up to in the backseat." Sam smirks as Brooke's already flush face turns a darker shade of pink.

"That's alright, I'm more than capable of driving with one hand on the wheel and the other up Brooke's skirt." Rachel laughs at Sam's threats to walk the four miles home.

a/n: I think this is the longest I've gone without Brachel having sex since I started writing this series so for all who are jonesing for some Brachel loving the rating goes up to M next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Distant Dreamer**

**disclaimer: OTH is the proerty of the CW an Schwahn**

**Chapter 5: Never Falter, Never Fade**

Forty-four minutes, forty-four gloriously _agonizing_ minutes. That's how long Brooke has had Rachel pinned to their bed, her lips and tongue caressing every inch of the redheads voluptuous body. Forty-four, no now forty-five minutes of unachieved orgasmic torture delivered by her diabolical lover and let's face it, Rachel wouldn't have it any other way. This is her penance for secret meetings with Charles, buying a house without consulting Brooke first and Rachel's pretty sure Brooke's still a little peeved that she ate the last gogurt and didn't add it to the grocery list, so she lays still and takes her punishment. But unbeknownst to Brooke, Rachel finds this form of retribution _extremely_ satisfying.

"You are such a dirty depraved little tramp, do you know that?" Brooke smirks against Rachel's stomach.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean?" Rachel answers, trying unsuccessfully to hide her grin.

"I _mean_, that you are enjoying your punishment way too much." punctuating her words by circling her tongue around Rachel's navel, causing the other girl's toned belly to quiver.

"Oh I'm being punished am I, and here I just thought you were in the giving mood?" Rachel snorts in amusement, "I hate to burst your bubble baby but I was kicked out of two of the most strict Catholic schools in the country for my _immoral behavior_. You haven't even began to scratch the surface of my licentiousness." moaning deep in her throat as Brooke gently sinks her teeth into the soft flesh of her thigh.

"Catholic school, huh?" Brooke slides her body flush against Rachel's, smiling triumphantly when the redhead wantonly arches into her, "You wouldn't happen to still have any uniforms would ya?"

"Wasn't aware that you had a plaid skirt and knee sock fetish." lifting her head to capture Brooke's mouth in a scorching kiss, Rachel growls in frustration when Brooke teasingly pulls away.

"Neither did I, but I'm learning that any scrap of clothing that I can rip off of you is a _major_ turn on." burying her mouth in Rachel's neck, she lightly licks the shell of Rachel's ear

"Screw this," Rachel grunts, flipping Brooke over onto her back she quickly traps the brunette under her body, "you can spank me later." Attacking Brooke's mouth with fervor her hands trail up and down the other girls sides, stopping to hook Brooke's left leg over her arm. So lost in the silky feeling of Brooke's heels caressing her calves and her tongue skillfully wrestling within her mouth, that Rachel lets out a small yelp when Brooke tightens her thighs around Rachel's waist and reverseds their positions.

"You didn't say the magic words." Brooke taunts

"Fuck me now!" Rachel demands. Rotating her hips, Brooke takes a firm hold of Rachel's wrists, lightly pressing their upper bodies together causing just the tips of their harden nipples to come into contact. Rachel hisses as Brooke presses her breast further into her chest then retreats. Rachel tries to angle her head so that she may clasp the pebbled flesh between her lips but Brooke once again thwarts her plans.

"Uh-uh, those are not the magic words."

"Evil bitch." Rachel laughs

"Close," Brooke pretends to consider her statement for a moment, "but no cigar."

"You know, it wouldn't take much for me to knock you down and take exactly what I want." the second the words leave her mouth Rachel instantly regrets it, cringing at the shadow that flashes in Brooke's hazel eyes and at what it alludes to. "Brooke I…"

"I know," Brooke quietly answers, her chin tremors slightly, she bites down hard on her lower lip, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Rachel is just about to suggest they stop this game of sexual dominance when Brooke's eyes fly open, staring straight through into her soul, "but you would never do that. You love me too much to ever willfully cause me pain."

"I do," Rachel emphatically agrees, grateful that Brooke could distinguish between their playful tussling and the cruelty that animal put her through months ago. "I love you more than anything in this world, I'd never hurt you Brookie."

"Now those," Brooke smiles, placing butterfly kisses along Rachel's jaw-line, "are the magic words. And as your reward for being such a patient girl, you get to have anything you want."

"I want to make love to you."

"Is that all," Brooke scoffs, "come on Ginger Spice, I'm offering you anything your twisted heart desires."

"You are what I desire," Rachel answers, "I want to marry you, I want you to be the mother of our children, I want to spend every night tossing and turning because you're snoring too loud in my ear, I want to dance at our 50th wedding anniversary, laughing while our grandkids call us a couple of sentimental lovesick old fogies. I want to die in your arms because I couldn't bear to live in this world if you weren't in it, Brooke."

"Damn, that's deep." releasing Rachel's wrists to take the redheads face in her hands, tilting her head to meet her lips she languidly and lovingly kisses her fiancee, "here I thought you'd just want me to wear those edible panties you have hidden in your nightstand?"

"Now that you mention it, it _is_ your fault we missed dessert."

Straddling her hips, Brooke strokes her fingertips lightly across Rachel's breast, her skin soft as velvet, warm and tempting. She smiles down at her lover, whose hair fans out over their pillows like burnt gold, body completely pliant beneath her waiting for Brooke to make the next move. Scooting further back, Brooke slides her hands underneath Rachel's thighs, parting her legs and settling in between. Kissing the curve of Rachel's hip, she then follows the familiar scent causing lust to burn through her veins. Rachel's moan of pleasure as Brooke's tongue invades her sex, sends a powerful jolt of need to surge through her own body and for a moment she considers reaching down to simultaneously pleasure herself. No, this time she decides to focus all of her attention on her lover, to let Rachel know how much she desires her and to showcase every tantalizing trick she has learnt these past few months. Brooke suckles relentlessly at Rachel's slick core her body convulsing with her first release, her tongue continuing to lap gently as Rachel, barely recovering from her first orgasm, screams out her second and whimpers as she finally reaches her third.

Crawling up her lovers heavily panting body, Brooke places a soft kiss to Rachel's lips, pulls the blankets over their naked bodies and gathers the redhead into her arms.

Rachel mindlessly snuggles into the brunettes embrace and her last thought before she glides weightlessly into a blissful slumber is _' That she loves Brooke Davis with every fiber of her being.'_

A/N: Short, I know but I wanted to let Brachel have their little interlude without the rest of the world intruding, well that and because halfway through this chapter dialoge for my Breyton fic popped into my head and I needed to type it out before I forgot so hopefully that wil be forming into a chapter pretty soon. Thanks to everyone who has reviewd, and to the two people who have PM'd me thank you so much and sorry I haven't had a chance to properly respond but I'll send ou a PM later tonight!


	6. Chapter 6

**Distant Dreamer**

**A/N: So I was watching one of my favorite movies, Grumpier Old Men, and this one joke was so dorky that I knew I had to have Rachel use it. (^^,)**

**Disclaimer: OTH is the property of the CW and Schwahn**

**Chapter 6**

"My boy," Lucas squirms under his mother's grasp as she pinches and kisses both his cheeks, "take care of yourself and that new wife of yours and I will see you when we come back for Brooke's wedding." Karen, frowning at the sour expression on her sons face, had hoped to avoid having this talk right before they parted but it seems as though Lucas is determined to beat this issue into the ground. "You know Lucas I really don't see what your problem is with Brooke being with Rachel."

"Brooke and Rachel getting married is like making a mockery of the sanctity of marriage."

"Huh." Karen humphs

"What?" Lucas questions

"Well Lucas I find it a bit ironic that you of all people would be calling out someone else's perceived violations of the _sanctity of marriage.."_

"What's that suppose to mean?" he asks defensively. Out of all of the people in their lives somehow Lucas expected his mother to see his side of the _Great Brachel Debate_. But alas, his own mother has chosen to swallow the blue pill, proudly waving the rainbow flag in support of his ex. Roughly rubbing a hand over his face, Lucas sighs, not wanting to get into another argument, especially since his ears are still ringing from the verbal thrashing Haley and Nate gave him last night over his inappropriate behavior.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you propose to one woman partly to quell her insecurities about your relationship with Peyton?" Karen scolds in that soft yet firm tone of hers that still makes him hang his head dolefully like a naughty child, "Then you proposed to Peyton, completely out of the blue after weeks of proclaiming your love for Lindsey."

"That has nothing to do with anything, mom. I have always loved Peyton!"

"Right and I don't doubt that but you loved Brooke once as well and I think that the fact you never got a chance to mourn that relationship properly is the reason you can't accept that Brooke has moved on. I've seen them together Luke, that kind of love is rare and it is beautiful no matter what form it comes in, I've raised you to be more tolerant than that. If you are really her friend then you need to find a way to come to terms with your misgivings. You have to remember that your actions affect everyone around you and if you continue to behave this way, forcing your friends to choose between the two of you…well I don't think you'll be satisfied with the outcome."

"Permission to come aboard?" the raspy voice causes Lucas to whirl around nervous that their conversation was overheard, but from the small smile on her face he relaxes. Standing on the dock no more than ten feet away is Brooke. A grin quirks at the corner of his mouth, Lucas thinks to himself that only Brooke Davis could look so beautiful at 6:30 in the morning wearing only a pair of jeans and a navy blue sweater. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, face scrubbed clean of makeup, the radiant glow emitting from her flawless skin is all natural and Lucas would be hard pressed to say many women could pull off that look.

"Brooke, sweetie what are you doing out here so early?" Karen walks down the plank to greet the younger woman.

"I realized that we left so abruptly last night that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye properly, or to give Lily her present." sheepishly passing over the bulky dress box that was tucked under her arm.

"You are bound and determined to spoil my daughter rotten." Karen admonishes playfully

"To be fair, these are the latest designs for my new kids line and since Lily-pad's my target demographic consumer you can consider this market research."

"Lily adores the dresses you made for her birthday, she's constantly bragging to her friends in London that she has her very own fairy godmother."

"While I may not be able to turn a pumpkin into a carriage, you tell Lils' that I'm more than happy to be her go to girl when it comes to glass slippers."

Karen laughs, pulling the girl she always considered her daughter into a fierce hug before hugging her son once more, thanking Brooke for her gifts and signaling Andy that she was ready to set sail.

Lucas and Brooke silently stand side by side watching the early morning sunrays reflect brightly against the water.

"Luke, Peyton is my best friend, I've loved her longer than I've known you. So, I'm asking, no I'm _telling_ you to stop. Stop this…whatever it is before things go any further." Brooke's voice is soft yet laced with steel, she keeps her eyes trained to the horizon as Andy's yacht sails further away.

"Brooke, I…"

"I'm happy Luke, I didn't think, never imagined that I could be this fulfilled and I won't let anything or anyone take that away, nor will I tolerate anything or _anyone_ causing my family harm." she spares him a disapproving glance, his mouth drops open ready to protest against these allegations, "Yeah, just because I haven't said anything so far doesn't mean I don't know the cruel things you've said to Rachel and I'm even more disappointed in the way you treat Sam. You of all people should know better than to treat someone like that, like their not wanted or don't belong."

"Brooke I've only been trying to look out for you, the way you always wanted me to, remember?" Lucas pleads for her understanding.

"This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with your precious ego." Brooke scoffs, annoyed that after all this time his _Hero Complex _is still alive and kicking. "You can't have Peyton as your wife and me on the side as your safetynet. You made your choice and _every_ single time you chose her and even though it hurt like hell I had to let it go and be happy for you. If you were really my friend you would do me the same courtesy."

Lucas stays quiet for a long while, debating with himself if he should really say what he is thinking. Ultimately deciding that he's already in deep enough that he might as well hash all of his grievances once and for all, his words are whispered gently but are still a harsh blow.

"She's not good enough for you."

"See, that right there…if you had ever really known me at all, then there is no way you can stand here and utter that nonsense to me with a straight face."

"So what are you saying? That everything that we shared together, that it was all a lie? You want to rewrite history?" Lucas shakes his head in disbelief.

"No, I'm saying that you're only seeing what you want to see, Luke just like you always do," Brooke sighs in exasperation, "and not just with me. For years before she'd even spoken to you, you built Peyton up in you're mind as the perfect girl and when she didn't live up to your expectations you were crushed. You coveted Nathan's childhood only to learn that you were the lucky one because you had Karen and Keith. And me…I did care very deeply for you Lucas but I could never truly be myself with you. Rachel knows me, she loves me, she see's _all_ of me and she doesn't cringe away or make me feel like I'm not good enough, not smart enough…"

"I never treated you like you weren't good enough Brooke." he objects weakly

"Maybe you weren't consciously aware of it Luke but it was always there, in the way you'd be embarrassed by something I said or did, and that constant feeling I had that you really wanted to be with Peyton." the hurt swimming in her hazel eyes lets him know how the actions of an inexperience, naive teenager inflicted so much pain on an already fragile heart.

"Why is it that every conversation we have always leads back to Peyton?"

"Gee Lucas, I don't know, maybe it's because she's your wife?" Brooke's snarky response makes him regret even starting this conversation. It's obvious that they're not going to resolve this anytime soon so for now he settles for a cease fire and watches dejectedly as Brooke turns on her heel to head back to the riverhouse.

* * *

"What are you doing up so early, besides stretching out my sweater?" stretching her arms lazily above her head, Rachel watches with hooded eyes as Brooke sneaks back into their bedroom.

"Karen and Andy shipped out this morning, I went to say goodbye. Burr, it's freezing out there!" Brooke rubs her arms trying to fight off the early morning chill.

"Well come back to bed, I'll keep you warm." leering playfully, Rachel hooks her fingers in the belt-loops of Brooke's jeans and reels her in.

"I was gonna get a head start on a few errands." Brooke protests, unsuccessfully trying to pull out of the grip Rachel has on her waist. The redhead quickly undresses her and they sink back into the plush mattress, snuggling under the warm blankets.

"No, it's 7:05 on a Sunday, stay your chipper ass in bed. Come on, this is the first weekend in like forever that we've had to just relax. No huge projects at work, no weddings to prep for…"

"That reminds me, we should really try to lock down a location for our wedding, it's already May and all of the really great places are sure to be booked."

"Don't worry, I've got everything under control." Brooke gives her a look, like they just didn't argue about Rachel making plans without consulting her first, "Wipe that look off your face it's just an idea, if you don't like it we have other options."

"Okay, so what's your brilliant idea, Obi Wan?"

"You've seen the gardens at Mayfair, lots of space, beautiful flowers, _extremely_ close proximity to our bed?" she smirks suggestively, "It'll be perfect, we won't have to deal with the uppity phobes who thinks we'll burn in hell for wanting to spend our lives together and we'll have a better handle on security just in case those media jackals try to sneak onto our private property."

"That…sounds kinda perfect actually." Brooke agrees, she snorts and pokes Rachel in the side, "For a minute I thought you'd suggest we fly off to Hawaii or some other remote island and turn one of the happiest day of our lives into a paparazzi feeding frenzy."

"Now that you mention it Hawaii does sounds promising. Beautiful beaches, your gorgeous bod wearing nothing but a bikini as you walk down the aisle or instead of the traditional first dance you can put on a grass skirt and give me a hula lap dance. I can even picture the perfect island too." Rachel pretends to consider this as a viable option.

"Really and what's the name of this mythical utopia?" rolling her eyes as Rachel pulls her in closer

" ComeonIwannalayya."

* * *

Placing the pitcher of cranberry juice onto the table, Sam rolls her eyes in exasperation at her parents who descends the stairs in their usual flare of playful insults and wandering hands.

"Morning Sammy." Rachel greets on her way to the espresso machine

"Chocolate chip pancakes and a fruit salad?" Brooke quirks her eyebrow as she surveys the breakfast Sam has prepared. "So what'd you do this time and will I have to appear in court ?"

"Can't a girl do something nice for her moms without being in violation of some law?" Sam grumbles "Honestly Rach, I don't know how you put up with her suspicious nature."

"Simple, I keep her mouth occupied half the time." is Rachel's wry reply

"Aw dude, I thought we agreed to no sexual innuendo before the first caffeine fix?" Sam balks

"Then why do you ask questions to which you know you're liable to receive a dirty answer?" Rachel shrugs

"If that's the rule of thumb then that encompasses any and all questions posed in this household?" Sam balks, "So how about we just sit and enjoy me channeling Donna Reed and the fruits of my labor?" motioning for her parents to sit at the place settings she laid out Sam accepts an apologetic kiss on the head from Brooke.

"Breakfast looks delicious Avril, thank you."

"You really want to thank me, start talking about something else before I begin imagining what exactly Momma G shoves in your mouth to keep you quiet." the teenage snorts as Brooke blushes slightly and Rachel chokes on her coffee.

"Alright, I was thinking it may be a good idea, since Ethan's coming tomorrow, that we move into Mayfair Manor today. I spoke with Liam, Ethan's Life Skills coach and he says that it would help with the transition if Ethan acclimates himself to his new living environment right away."

"Fine by me," Rachel agrees, digging into her breakfast, "we can take the essentials over this afternoon and have the rest shipped later. What do you think Sam?"

"Hey I'm cool, all of my stuff pretty much fits in one bag. Cruella Deville over here," nodding to Brooke, "is the one with the mondo shoe collection that'll take eons to pack up."

"Hey," Brooke objects, narrowing her eyes at her breakfast companions snickering, "I resemble that remark."

"I'll put a call in to the guys and see if they'll give us a hand with hauling over a few boxes in Fergie's truck." Rachel suggests

"So what are we gonna do with this place?" Sam asks, a little sad that they will be leaving the first house she has ever considered a home.

"Mouth said that his apartment is getting crowded, apparently Junk's got a girl of the non-inflatable variety and she's over all the time now. He and HRG are thinking of moving out, you could give them first dibs on this house Brooke."

With that settled the trio tucks into their meal, hopeful of what the future and the newest member of their family will bring.

a/n: So I'm seriously thinking about changing my screen name, originally mdiggory was a shorten version of Madame Diggory when I was going through my fan girl crush on Cedric Diggory of the Harry Potter fame. Then Twilight came out and Robert Patterson's heroin chic look completely ruined it for me. I've got a list of names I've been kicking around and so far my favorite is an homage to the show Dollhouse, VictorEchoSierra, sounds cool but maybe too much to type. What do you think?


	7. Chapter 7

**Distant Dreamer**

a/n: Alright I have some good news and some bad news: the bad news, is my guaranteed 40 hours at work has been reduced to like 34 a week which means less money in my pocket and I may not be taking that vacay in August (insert expletive here). The good news, it's only suppose to last for six weeks and in the meantime I may have more time to work on my fics.

Disclaimer: OTH is the property of the CW and Shwahn

**Chapter 7**

Rachel stands in the hallway of their new home, arms crossed over her chest, leaning against the door frame. She shakes her head in exasperation at Brooke who has spent the better part of the morning manically reorganizing Ethan's bedroom, as if she's afraid that Child Services will revoke his adoption if she chose the wrong sports memorabilia theme. Then again, in a town like Tree Hill where basketball reigned supreme, Rachel's not sure if that idea's too far off the mark.

"What's she move this hour?" Sam asks, squeezing through the doorway to witness her mother's insanity up close she casually offers Rachel the bowl of popcorn she's holding.

"The toy chest three times, the nightstand twice and she tried to move the bed but stopped when she broke a nail." Rachel answers bemused.

"Would it kill you two to help me, instead of standing there cracking jokes?" Brooke spins around, placing her hands on her hips she looks from the redhead to the brunette expectedly.

"Judging by the size of that dresser," appraising the large piece of furniture, Sam tilts her head in contemplation, "yes it might just kill me to move it."

"Which way to the smartass convention, don't be late?" Brooke's snarky response has them both laughing discreetly into their hands. She turns back around to resume her work.

"Momma G, can't you do that thing where you kiss her and she forgets to act like a sociopath for a few minutes?" Sam implores Rachel

"It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it." Rachel sighs, sneaking up on Brooke from behind she wraps her arms around the frantic woman's chest, pulling Brooke back into her embrace, trapping her arms. She buries her nose in Brooke's neck, inhaling deeply and letting out a soft growl her tongue darts out to lick that spot just below the brunettes ear, marveling at Brooke's ability to taste as sweet as she smells.

Brooke melts against her lover, rubbing her thighs together she nearly gets lost in Rachel's erotic spell but a loud clearing of the throat reminds them that their daughter is still in the room, damn kid.

"I wanted you to _calm_ her down, Momma G."

"I was calming her." Rachel replies with a shrug

"No, you two were about three seconds away from christening my baby brothers race car bed." Sam snorts

"I suppose it would be fitting, Brooke has a penchant for showing up naked in the new boys car." Rachel laughs at Brooke's squawk of indignation, kissing her before she can say anything.

The loud chimes of the doorbell reverberating throughout the vast manor interrupts their squabble and Brooke is once again poised on pins and needles.

"Their here." She states, looking excitedly at Rachel and Sam. Rachel takes her hand, pulling her in for one last kiss and tugs the nervous brunette out into the hall.

"Come on, let's go welcome our boy home."

* * *

Lucas knew something was amiss the second he stepped onto the Rivercourt and saw that the only person in attendance for the guys long standing weekly game was his brother.

"Just us today?" He asks, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Nathan's not so casual shrug.

Nathan doesn't speak right away, checking the ball he quickly falls into a defensive stance, riding Lucas' back hard as the blond dribbles, trying to make it to the hoop. As he pivots, Nathan's hand strikes out stealing the ball he fakes left and takes a shot.

Luke gathers the bouncing ball and gets into position to check it, he tosses the ball to Nate who catches it and thrusts it back unnecessarily hard, straight into his chest. A hint of regret flashes over Nathan's face at Lucas' slight grunt of discomfort but he quickly pushes down any feelings of remorse. Dribbling the ball Nate sees that Luke has caught on to his agitation and is guarding him equally as hard, so to get the blond off his back he quickly juts out his elbow, only vaguely aware of busting the other man's lip as he makes an easy layup.

"4-0." He announces, watching Lucas spit a mouthful of blood out onto the grass. The blond sneers at him before lifting his hands, signaling that he's alright to continue the game despite his brothers unwarranted aggressiveness.

Nathan backs off a bit, allowing Luke to score a few baskets before bringing up the real reason that it's just the two Scott boys playing today. "So a messenger dropped off our wedding invites yesterday."

"Yeah, one was sent over to my house as well, Peyton was being a real girl about how pretty the calligraphy was." He snorts at his wife's rare feminine moment.

"Haley wouldn't even let me touch our invite." Nathan laughs, recalling the lengths his wife went through to preserve the fancy pieces of paper. " Now that the invitations have been sent and a date set everything seems more real, huh?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Lucas mutters under his breath

"What's that suppose to mean?" Nathan halts the game

"Just that a lot can happen in between now and August." Lucas clarifies, "And what's with the whole _set aside four days for this wedding_ business? There wasn't even a location written just the date?"

"It's to keep the press from crashing, that's why the invites were personally messenger over instead of going through the post office. You'd be amazed at the lengths some of the paparazzi would go to just to get a picture. So are you coming?"

"Peyton's the maid of honor," Lucas shrugs, " Kinda have to, you know, even if I think Brooke's making a huge mistake she'll need the people who _really _care about her there if it all falls apart."

"Don't be a jag, Luke." Nathan warns his brother, "You made your choice and it wasn't Brooke so don't begrudge her happiness."

"You know what? I have had it up to here," the blond shouts, raising his right hand up to his chin to illustrate his irritation, "with everyone acting like that whole triangle of doom was all my fault! Like I'm the G.D. Devil! Those two passed me back and forth as if I was some prize they won at the carnival. Peyton only wanted me when I was with Brooke. Brooke got angry with me for that kiss and a dozen other tiny reasons that I had no control over. Then she decides she didn't really love me and drops me off in Peyton's lap!"

"Man, even _I'm_ not that stupid." Nathan shakes his head at his older brother's asinine rant. "Luke, it was _never_ about the kiss. Look you're good with words, you can spin a sonnet or whatever and have the ladies falling at your feet but all of that means nothing if you've got no follow through. Brooke likes the pretty words but she needs the actions to let her know you're for real. Wanna know why she loves Rachel, I mean _really_ loves her? Rach has follow through, she says she'll fight for Brooke and she does. She's battled Brooke's mom, the media, Rachel held Brooke's hand when she felt like the world was caving in on her after the attack. She didn't magically solve Brooke's problems for her, she stood by Brooke's side, held her up while Brooke fought like Hell to put her world back to right. Brooke doesn't need a hero, she just needs someone to believe in her, to love her flaws and all."

Nathan let's his words sink in and dribbles the ball, ready to drive to the hole but stops short at Lucas' softly spoken confession.

"I called her first. When I was at the airport, sitting there with two tickets in my hand, I imagined what my life would be like with each of them, Lindsey, Peyton and Brooke. I had every one of your voices ringing in my head urging me to pick one, _just pick one_. So I did." Lucas gives a short humorless laugh as he stares off into space recalling that very vivid dream he had at the airport. "I called Brooke but her line was busy, funny it seemed like the perfect metaphor for our entire relationship, me always being on hold for her."

Nathan stands stock still, mouth gaping like a fish but no words are called forth. Finally he let's out a roar of frustration, hurling the ball at the hoop with all of his might. The ball ricochets off the backboard with a resounding _bang,_ jostling Lucas from his musing.

"What the Hell is wrong you!" He screeches

"Me, what's wrong with you guy?" Lucas yells back, taken off guard by Nathan's outburst.

"Tell me that you did _not_ decide one of the most life altering decisions on a round of eeny, meeny, miney fucking moe!"

"Don't you think you're being a little over dramatic?" Lucas' condescending tone only serves to add more fuel to the fire.

"Oh _I'm_ being over dramatic? You call Brooke to run off and get married but she doesn't answer so you're just, _'Oh well on to the next.'_" Nathan mimics his brothers deceptively laid back tone and mannerisms perfectly, "and who was next huh Luke? What happened did you get Lindsey's voicemail?"

"Look the only reason I told you this was because…"

"The only reason you told me anything was to clear your conscience. Do I look like _Jiminy Fucking Cricket _to you?! I'm done."

"Nathan."

"I'm out," Nathan starts to walk away, then turns back to face his stubbornly clueless brother, "but let me say this first, Peyton deserves a Hell of a lot more than what she's saddled with. If you come to the wedding you had better keep your big mouth shut or I promise you, you'll regret it. Take a long hard look in the mirror, Luke. How in the Hell can you expect to save anyone when you can't even save yourself."

**a/n: okay, I'll lay off the Lucas bashing for a while so as not to upset the fans. And thanks to everyone out there for their reviews of my fics Bad Girl and Scenes , writing different couples and a silly one-shot has definitely unclogged my brain and I hope to get more written tonight. Also, if anyone is interested, I'm looking to make a few banners to post on my livejournal page but I suck at it and was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me out? I'd be eternally grateful, thanks in advance.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Distant Dreamer**

A/N: Alright I decided that the wedding has been a topic in this series for too long and hopefully will be wrapped up within the next chapter or two, that being said I've got no new ideas other than posting that Brachel family future shot I've mentioned before. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the lack of Brachel fam in the last.

**Chapter 8: Perfect Situation**

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the CW and Schwahn

"Oh Jamie, thank God you're here!" Brooke exclaims with gratitude, opening the door to find her godson and his parents on her porch.

"Hey Aunt Brooke, I brought a present for Ethan, can I say hi?" Holding up a brightly wrapped box half his size the little blond Scott looks up hopefully at his aunt.

"That's so sweet honey, yes he's out back with Sam and Auntie Rach. Just go straight down this hall and turn left." Jamie takes off in a flash and Brooke smiles, heaving a great breath when Haley pulls her into a hug.

"Sorry for dropping in unexpected like this Brooke but Jamie was very adamant about meeting his new cousin." Haley apologizes.

"Your son has impeccable timing that's for sure, this whole day has been a complete disaster."

"What's wrong, is there trouble with the adoption?" Nathan asks, closing the door and placing a kiss on his friend's forehead.

"No the papers are all in order and official but…he hates us!" Brooke whines, she turns on her heel and heads into the parlor of the mansion, flopping down on the couch dramatically.

"Oh come on Brooke I'm sure Ethan doesn't hate you." Haley tries to reassure the girl and gives her husband a warning look to stop his snickering at the brunettes exaggerated behavior.

"He does so," the brunette stubbornly grumbles, "when the adoption lady dropped him off this afternoon, Ethan didn't even want to get out of the car. It took Sam 15 minutes and the promise of ice cream to coax him into the house."

"Well have you seen this place from the outside," Nathan takes a good look around the spacious room, admiring the expensive décor and view of their surrounding land from the bay windows, "maybe he was just a little intimidated?"

"Yeah and remember he just lost his mother and has been shuffled back and forth from strangers homes, that can't be good for his condition." Brushing a few stray locks of honey colored hair from her friends face, Haley relaxes as her words somewhat pacifies the brunette.

"I suppose you're right, everything I've read about Asperger's Syndrome says that he'll function much better with a set routine," Brooke concedes, "but I really wanted him to like us, you guys."

"Brooke, he just lost the only family he's ever known, you can't expect him to call you mom the second he steps through the door." Haley presses.

"Give him time B, believe me he's going to love you." Nathan says with certainty

"Maybe you're right, I plan to take the month off of work and stay home with Ethan to help him get adjusted, so we'll have plenty of time to bond." with her friends reassurance that everything will be fine, Brooke's spirits are lifted and she smiles gratefully at the two brunettes.

"Now that that's settled," Nathan jumps to his feet, clapping his large hands together, "why don't you introduce us to your son?"

* * *

The hallway seems to stretch on forever, just as Jamie begins to think he's taken a wrong turn he hears laughter filtering through an open door leading to the biggest backyard he's ever seen. Down by the pool sits Sam, Aunt Rachel and a shy little dark haired boy about his age. Jamie stands still, studying the boy for a moment until Sam spots him and waves him over. Shuffling the present in his suddenly sweaty hands, Jamie obediently trots over to the group.

He's a bit nervous, wanting to make a good first impression because as much as he loves that all of the grown ups in his life takes time out to hang with him, they're all still adults and Jamie is starved for the camaraderie only another kid the same age can provide.

"Hey little J." Rachel greets him as he comes closer

"Hi Aunt Rach, hi Sam."

"Jam Master J, right on time, I want you to meet my little brother Ethan," Sam lightly touches the other boy's arm to get him to face Jamie, "Ethan this is Momma D's godson and one of my bff's Jamie."

Jamie waits patiently for the other boy to lift his head, his momma explained to him just before they left the house that Ethan may seem a little strange at first because of his mental disability and that Jamie was to be on his best behavior and make the boy feel welcomed. Jamie couldn't help but roll his eyes when his momma wasn't looking, he'd planned on doing that anyway, ever since his godmother Brooke moved back to town all she's talked about was having a family of her own and now with her marrying Rachel and adopting Sam then Ethan, his beloved Aunt finally has the family she deserves and Jamie would do anything to make sure Brooke stays as happy as she is now.

"Hi I'm Jamie." he says in his most friendly voice

"I…I'm Ethan." he stutters slightly, Ethan ducks his head and blushes as if he's waiting for Jamie to make fun of him. Sensing his apprehension Jamie decides to just jump right in to make the boy feel more at ease.

"Wow, your pool is huge, do you know how to swim?" Ethan shakes his head no, "That's okay, my dad taught me he'll teach you too."

Ethan smiles, setting off the most adorable dimples in his chubby cheeks and Jamie knows that he's headed in the right direction.

"What's t…that?" Ethan asks, pointing to the brightly wrapped box in Jamie's hands

"It's a present for you." handing the gift over he watches the look of astonishment cross the other boys face and urges Ethan to open it.

"It's the new Mario Kart game for Wii and I got two steering wheels so we can play together!"

Rachel excuses herself and heads back towards the house meeting Brooke, Haley and Nathan at the door.

"How's it going out here?" Nathan asks as they all warily eye the kids down by the pool.

"Surprisingly well," Rachel smiles at hearing Ethan laugh at some quirky joke Jamie just told, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

Dinner had passed with a little less tension than lunch, Ethan was still a bit closed off but he did manage to answer the few questions posed to him and after eating a hearty meal, he took a bubble bath with no complaints. Brooke gently closes the door to his bedroom and tip toes down the hall to the master bedroom.

"Finally zonked out?" Rachel questions, tossing the frilly throw pillows off of their bed. She pulls back the covers and pats the spot next to her indicating to Brooke to hop in.

"Yeah, I read him two stories, he fell asleep halfway through the second but I just wanted to spend a little extra time with him, he's so adorable." she gushes

"What is this?" Rachel shakes her head in disbelief, watching the brunette setting up a baby monitor on her bedside nightstand.

"It's just in case he needs anything in the middle of the night." Brooke answers defensively

"And you don't think this might be overkill? He's five, Brooke."

"Well, it's like Nate said, this house is pretty big and could be intimidating and I just want…" Rachel cuts her off by pulling her back onto the bed and kissing her soundly.

"Don't sweat it babe, the morning may have started out rocky but he's gonna be fine, just give him a few days to get his bearings, okay?" Brooke nods meekly, moaning softly as Rachel's hand skims the hem of her nightgown while placing open mouth kisses to her neck.

Slowly bringing their lips back together, her long hair curtains both their faces in auburn waves. Brooke, grasps the back of Rachel's head, directing which angle the other girl turns as her warm tongue slides into Brooke's mouth to wrestle with her own. Rachel manages to shimmy them both out of their clothing without breaking the heart stopping kiss and Brooke moans louder at the feel of Rachel's full breast making contact with hers.

"I've thought about this all day," Rachel mumbles against her heated flesh, she dips her head, taking Brooke's quickly hardening nipple into her mouth, suckling gently as her hand fondles the other breast. "You weren't wearing a bra and it was all I could do to not throw you down on the dinner table and fuck you senseless."

"I think Sam may have objected to that." Brooke's throaty laugh turns into a sharp gasp of delight as Rachel's free hand slips between her thighs, circling the edge of her sex. Spreading her legs wider to give her lover better access, she hisses in a breath at the sensation of Rachel's long fingers gliding into her. Brooke jerkily rocks her hips against Rachel's hand, her back arching off the bed when probing fingers locate her g-spot and incessantly caresses the sensitive area.

Her orgasm hits hard and above the sound of blood pounding in her ears she vaguely hears Rachel moaning out her name as her body is overcome with a rush of pleasure. Rachel's arms slip around her waist, pulling Brooke as tightly against her body as the laws of physics will allow. Brooke drifts off to sleep, mindlessly running her hands through her lovers soft burgundy mane.

* * *

Her eyes fly open two hours later and automatically she senses something isn't right. Looking down she finds Rachel in the same position they fell asleep in, her arms wrapped tightly around Brooke's midsection. She glances at the clock on her nightstand and that's when she notices that the soft snores were no longer emitting from the baby monitor placed in Ethan's bedroom. Wiggling out of Rachel's surprisingly strong hold, Brooke searches the floor for her discarded nightgown and matching robe, she nearly makes it to the door but is stopped by Rachel's husky voice.

"Where you going, fatass?"

"I…I was just going to check on Ethan." Brooke nervously replies, Rachel gives an annoyed grunt and Brooke visibly deflates, "I'm lame and over protective, I know but…"

"Go on then," Rachel sleepily interrupts, pushing back the blankets she grabs her own robe and unsteadily slips it on to Brooke's amazement, "may as well come with you seeing as I'm not getting any sleep until you've made your round of bed checks."

Brooke has the good graces to blush and leads the way to their son's bedroom down the hall. Cracking the door open quietly so as not to wake the child she pokes her head into the room, pausing to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Quickly making out the bed, she's just about to retract her head when she spots the comforter thrown haphazardly to the side and the bed is empty. A cold chill creeps up her spine, pushing the door wide open she rushes into the room to search every corner. Rachel catches on fast to what has her lover so perturbed, she flicks on the lights and goes straight for the adjacent bathroom only to return a minute later alone.

"Okay let's just calm down," Rachel's voice is soothing yet her eyes are still frantically searching the vacant bedroom.

"Oh my God Rach, what if he…?" shaking her head, Rachel grabs Brooke by the shoulders forcing her to cut off all of the disturbing thoughts running through the brunettes mind.

"It's a big house, I'm gonna wake Sam and the three of us will search this place from top to bottom." Kissing Brooke's forehead she squeezes the other girls shoulders reassuringly and dashes across the hall to their daughter's room.

Brooke sits alone in the sports themed bedroom feeling like a complete failure as a parent, Ethan has been with them less than 24 hours and has already disappeared. Just as the doubt manages to slither it's way into her heart she hears Rachel softly calling her name from the hall. Rushing to the sound of her fiancée's hushed voice, she finds Rachel standing in Sam's doorway with a wry smirk on her face.

"Wha…?" Brooke begins to ask but Rachel simply nods her head for Brooke to peak inside. In the dim light of the hallway she can clearly see Sam spread out wildly on her queen sized bed, arms and legs tangled up in the bedding and her hair in complete disarray but what causes her to let loose the relieved gush of breath she was holding is the sight of little Ethan sprawled out on the mattress sleeping just as unruly as his sister.

Rachel laughs at the picture the two makes, she quietly closes the door and takes Brooke by the hand, leading her back to their room. "Told ya, absolutely nothing to worry about, our boy has made himself right at home."


	9. Chapter 9

**Distant Dreamer**

**Disclaimer: characters are the property of the CW and Schwahn**

**Chapter 9**

Since she was a child, Brooke has had an irrational dislike of doctor's offices. She could blame it on the fact that immunization shots hurt like a mother or other things kids tend to shy away from but the truth runs deeper. Her parents, to the best of her recollection, have never accompanied her to a single checkup as a child, preferring to pawn her off to whatever nanny was working that week or even Anna Sawyer when Brooke contracted the chickenpox. She never got a comforting hug and kiss from her mother to distract from a needle prick. And people wonder why she has so many trust issues.

It appears that her uneasiness with being confined to the brightly decorated pediatricians waiting room is starting to rub off on Ethan and he begins to fidget in his seat beside her, no longer interested in playing tic-tac-toe in the outdated Highlights magazine.

"Ethan?" a young nurse opens a door calling out into the room. Brooke heaves a sigh of relief, smiling she gathers her purse and turns to her child.

"Come on sweetie, we're next." Ethan stares at her like a deer caught in the headlights. His experiences with doctors run along the same lines as Brooke and as he hesitates Brooke panics, not knowing how this might play out. "Hey, you want to go to that Day Camp with your buddy Jamie, right?" she asks tentatively as his anxiety rises and he rocks himself back and forth, the words not filtering. Gently touching his shoulder, Brooke bends down to his level to make direct eye contact with the boy. "Ethan, I will never let anything bad happen to you. The doctor will come in, ask me a few questions, he needs to check a couple of small things but the second you want him to stop, I'll make him stop. All you have to do is squeeze my hand, okay?"

Ethan stares at her for a full minute, she can hear the Nurse behind her sighing in annoyance at the hold up and Brooke resists the urge to turn around and slap the insolent little bitch. Ethan clasps her hand and nods, sliding off of the chair and falling into step beside Brooke as the Nurse finally leads them to the examination room.

He makes it halfway through the examination before the doctor's constant prodding agitates him and Ethan crawls away screaming, until Brooke roughly pushes the older man aside and gets him to focus on his breathing techniques to calm his nerves. She shoots the doctor an apologetic smile to which he sympathetically waves off, gives Ethan clearance for camp and a grape Charms lollipop.

* * *

Rachel leans back in her chair, subtly swiveling from side to side in a desperate attempt to keep herself from falling asleep during this meeting. With Brooke on temporary leave getting Ethan settled into their home, life at Davis Enterprises has become excruciatingly dull without the bubbly brunette there to spice up her day. Gary from accounting, continues to drone on about numbers she really should be paying attention to but Millicent's suddenly green appearance and quaking shoulders has Rachel lunging for a trash can and quickly dismissing the meeting as the other girl regurgitates her lunch.

Pulling her brown hair away from her face, Rachel gently rubs Millie's back until the retching stops. Millie sits back in her chair, her face gaining a bit more color and gratefully accepts the napkin and bottled water her boss hands her.

"So," Rachel smirks at Millie's queasy expression, "Mouth managed to slip one pass the goalie huh? Mazeltov!"

"I just found out yesterday," Millie says, quickly working herself up into a panic, "I was going to tell you and Brooke soon I swear but this was so unexpected and I…"

"Relax Mils, I'm not angry." Rachel reassures the nervous brunette.

"You're not?" her eyes blinking hopefully behind her glasses, Millie breathes a sigh of relief that her job is secure.

"No, and neither will Brooke be, this is great news, Mouth is gonna make an awesome papa." pausing she lifts an eyebrow teasingly at the other girl, "This is Mouth's bun you're baking, right?"

"Of course this is Marvin's baby, he is the only man I've ever been with!" Millicent snaps, highly affronted that Rachel would suggest otherwise.

"Damn, I owe Peyton twenty bucks." Rachel laughs .

Walking into her office Rachel stops short at the sight of a distinguished looking red headed woman standing in front of her window overlooking the river. Her good mood is instantly squashed by the unexpected visitor.

"Seeing as there isn't a pentagram drawn on the floor, I'm assuming my assistant let you in, he's _so_ fired." Rachel grumbles

"No need to be rash, once I dropped a name he had no choice but to grant me access." Strolling leisurely around the spacious office the stylishly dressed woman takes in the décor with a sharp critical eye, stopping at Rachel's desk to examine the framed pictures littering the surface top. Picking up a silver framed photo she frowns at the unfamiliar sight of a happy Rachel smiling back at her.

There were several candid family shots, one of Brooke and Rachel dancing together after the launch party for B. Davis Cosmetics that Millicent took with her camera phone when they essentially _came out _to their friends. One of Brooke, Sam and Rachel on stage together thanking the crowd for their generous donations at the Red Hot Ball and most recently one of Ethan, Jamie, Brooke and Sam swimming in the pool at Mayfair Manor.

"Since I doubt you've flown all this way to critique how I've decorated my office I'll simply ask, what are you doing here mother?" Rachel probes, drawing her mother's attention from her family photos.

"I have recently received a letter from my daughter whom I haven't spoken with in nearly three years," she raises an eyebrow, laying on the guilt, "imagine my surprise when I read that she's getting married in a few weeks? And to Brooke Davis no less?"

"What is that suppose to mean?" Rachel instantly bristles at the mention of her relationship.

"It means that you have taken you're obsession with this girl to a whole new level Rachel , your father and I are concerned that you may be rushing into something…"

"My obsession?" Rachel screeches, tossing her files onto the desk she runs a hand through her hair.

"You were kicked out of school because of her…" her mother points out.

"I took the blame for stealing a test, it was my idea and I practically had to twist Brooke's arm to get her to go along. Besides, she came clean with the principal and he allowed me to graduate with my class."

"You dropped out of Columbia to become a _model _for goodness sakes…" Mrs. Gattina says with disdain.

"I didn't drop out, I left after completing my Associate's Degree…" Rachel heatedly clarifies but her mother continues as if she didn't interrupt.

"An Associate's, you may as well have a high school diploma for all the good that will do you…"

"I'd say I'm doing fairly well," waving her hand around her office to illustrate her point, "I am the co-head of this company."

"If you had to sleep with the boss in order to get this position then you can't expect anyone to respect your authority, nor your ability to do the job well." the older Gattina callously comments.

"I was one of the first people to encourage Brooke to pursue this career. I entered her designs in her first fashion show and was with her at every show when we moved to New York. I was the first to invest in this company and helped lay the foundation for the empire she created." Rachel huffs, irritated but knowing that showing so would only be seen as a sign of weakness to her mother.

"All of that and yet you still chose to become a model and let's not even speak of what paths that lifestyle led you down. Where was this _girl_ when you were strung out on drugs after everything you've done for her…"

"I don't expect you to understand, I barely understand why I turned to drugs mother. My feelings for Brooke became so overwhelming that it hurt, it physically hurt to be around her and not being able to tell her how I felt. She was living this perfectly charmed life and her shrew of a mother had an iron grasp on every single aspect of her life. It wasn't until much later when Brooke was finally able to cast Victoria off that we were able to admit to one another how we feel."

"And what is it that you _think_ you feel?"

"I love Brooke, we're happy together and we are going to be married whether you like it or not."

Liza Gattina quietly observes her daughter, wondering when she transformed from the self-centered trouble maker to a responsible caring woman.

* * *

Brooke returns from Ethan's doctor's appointment, having her assistant take the child to her office, she heads straight to Rachel's. Knocking once she enters the tense room hesitating when she sees Rachel isn't alone.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to inter…" one glance at Rachel standing off to the side of her desk with one hand perched on her hip and the other running through her hair agitatedly and Brooke rushes to her side. "What's wrong?" she asks taking Rachel's face into her hands.

Rachel let's out a deep sigh, shaking her head slightly and appearing as though she's on the verge of tears. Her heartbeat thuds deafeningly in her ears and Rachel doesn't have to hear Brooke's words to know what she's saying, it's all right there in her expressive hazel eyes. They stand there in silence for a moment, communicating without words and Liza is stunned to see Rachel relax under Brooke's gentle touch seemingly drawing strength from the other girl. She's captivated by the images of need and want clearly placed on display, Brooke's need to be comforted by Rachel after a obviously trying day and Rachel wanting to hold the other girl, shining through . She'd seen that before, experienced those same feeling in the first years of her marriage to Thorsten Gattina.

"You smell like applesauce." Rachel murmurs, placing a kiss to the palm of Brooke's hand.

"That would be courtesy of your son," Brooke explains, "I tried the _'hide his meds in a cup of applesauce'_, trick but he figured it out right away and refused to take them."

"You gotta show him that you're putting the pills in and tell him that it will make him feel better, or else you're just wasting your time."

"I don't know Rach, I really don't like the idea of keeping him medicated, especially since the doctors haven't worked out the right dosages. He's either bouncing off the walls with excess energy and talking to himself or so doped up and lethargic that he sleeps half the day."

"We just need to give it time and trust that the doctors know what they're doing."

"Right and this would be the brain trusts that misdiagnosed his condition before?" Brooke scoffs at the thought.

"We have specialists that deal specifically in this field. While every case is different I'm confident that no further harm will come to our boy." the tension in her shoulders slowly begins to release as Brooke accepts the decision and doesn't argue. A fake cough has Rachel closing her eyes and praying that when she opens them the room will be void of any interlopers. No such luck.

"Brooke, this is my…for lack of a better word, mother. Liza Gattina, mother this is my fiancee, Brooke Daivs." Rachel reluctantly makes the introductions. Liza throws her daughter a long suffering glare then smiles at the brunette.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Brooke swallows her sudden bout of nerves and summons up a beautiful smile as she approaches her future mother-in-law, wanting to make a good first impression.

"Likewise," scrutinizing the younger girl, from head to toe Liza smiles genuinely at what she sees. "Rachel's father was held up in Prague on business so I thought I would come here first and lend a hand with the wedding preparations."

"Brooke is handling everything, she's organized many weddings and since we planned to keep ours small there's really not much you can do mother, so…" Rachel trails off, hoping her mother would take the hint that she's not needed.

"But," Brooke interrupts, "another pair of hands are always appreciated."

"Fabulous, just let me know when you're available Brooke, I'm staying at the Hilton and any time spent away from that dreadful place will be just fine in my opinion."

Rachel avoids looking at Brooke knowing exactly where her twisted mind is headed and cursing every deity in the book that Brooke is so kind hearted. Unfortunately, Brooke doesn't require eye contact to get her point across, she squeezes Rachel's hand, digging her nails into the flesh until Rach faces her.

'_We should invite your mom to stay with us._' the hazel eyes communicates.

'_And why would I do something that fucking stupid?!_' annoyed caramel eyes questions

'_Cause she's your mom and she's making an effort to be okay with us.'_

'_I've gotten by just fine for years without her approval, thank you very much._'

'_Yeah, but if you do this then I will do anything you want. We're talking level three kinky, no holds barred_.'

'_Damn your slutty mind! Fine.'_ gritting her teeth, Rachel turns a forced smile onto her mother who has been waiting patiently throughout their odd little exchange.

"Mom, why don't you stay with us, we have plenty of room."

"I don't want to impose…" looking between the pair she's amused by Brooke's power play.

"It's no trouble at all." Brooke answers before Rachel can say anything further.

a/n: I have really missed this story!! The next few chapters are rattling around in my head but it's just a matter of when I'll have the time to type it out. Thanks to all who have reviewed this and my other stories, especially the response to Bad Girl, besides Brachel, Brathan = Awesomeness (~~,)


	10. Chapter 10

**Distant Dreamer**

**Disclaimer: All characters are the property of The CW and Schwahn**

A/N: It's been forever since I've updated and hopefully I haven't lost my focus, so in honor of the one year anniversary of my Brachel series (albeit, a few days late) I am determined to post at least two chapters before the month is up. Thanks to everyone who has sent me encouraging messages and reviews, they were super helpful.

**Chapter 10: The Middle **

It's Tuesday night in the Davis-Gattina household and that can only mean one thing: homemade pizza followed by game night.

Sam sweeps her bangs out of her eyes as she struggles to flatten out the dough with a rolling pin. Laughing at the young girl's frustration, Rachel nudges her aside, gathers the dough in her hands and expertly twirls it around her knuckles, occasionally tossing it into the air just to show off a little and make her daughter smile.

"Question, we all know that Brooke's mom is the devil, so what's the dealio with your folks?" Sam inquires, picking up a large knife and carefully slicing the green peppers for a veggie pizza.

"The situation with my parents was never as dire as Brooke's." Rachel shrugs, moving on to the next blob of dough for a barbecue chicken pizza. "About the middle of my sophomore year at Columbia I decided that modeling was something that I wanted to do full time instead of just a few shows for C/B. I told my father that I wouldn't be joining him in the family business and they totally blew a gasket. We had this big fight and he cut me off financially, my mom tried for a few weeks to talk me into continuing my education but at the time all I could hear was her criticizing my choices like she's done all my life and at that point I'd had enough of trying to be the person they wanted me to become."

"What do you think your mom's really here for?"

"She seems to be on the level, the whole lesbian thing isn't an issue. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say she's just scoping out Brooke, hoping to form an alliance to lure me back into the family fold." Rachel had spent the remainder of the afternoon theorizing on why her mother would choose this moment to pop back into her life and why she was so keen on getting to know Brooke better.

"Doesn't sound like such a bad thing, unless the family business is a mortuary or something equally creepy." Sam shudders comically.

"The Gattina's are seafaring people, my great grandfather was an Admiral of the fleet in Her Majesty's Royal Navy and after his tour was up he and his brothers built their very own ship to start a charter company. One ship turned into two and thirty years later it morphed into a fleet of luxury cruise ships. When my dad turned twenty-five he took over for my grandfather as the CEO of the cruise line. It's what I was destined to do in another year or two."

Brooke walks into the kitchen, immediately wrapping her arms around her lover's waist, resting her chin on Rachel's shoulder she murmurs, "Hey good lookin' whatcha cookin'?"

"You are the biggest dork I have ever met." the redhead laughs

"Mock my come-ons now but just wait until I get you upstairs tonight," biting gently on Rachel's earlobe, her raspy voice a seductive purr. "you're powerless against my feminine wiles and all that cynicism will melt away like ice cream."

"Figures your fat ass can't go five minutes without mentioning food." craning her head back, she captures the brunette's lips in a kiss. Rachel drags her tongue lightly across Brooke's bottom lip, smirking when Brooke moans softly, "Who's powerless now?"

"Bitch." Brooke replies not unkindly but leans in to steal another kiss.

Liza enters the kitchen, unnoticed by the pair so wrapped up in themselves, she takes a look at Sam who's chopping vegetables, completely unconcerned with the two women engaged in a heated kiss merely four feet away from where she's standing.

"After a while you get used to them being attached at the tonsils," Sam says without looking up, "but it's always a good idea to knock on any closed doors around here."

"I'll keep that in mind." Liza chuckles at the adorable blush that sweeps Brooke face at being caught ravaging her daughter and the annoyed frown on Rachel. "Is there anything I can help prepare?"

"Rach and Sammy have the food under control but you can help me set the table." Brooke offers

"NO!" both Sam and Rachel emphatically exclaim

"Brooke is not allowed to handle the chinaware." Rachel explains to her mother, who appears startled by their outburst.

"Oh come on, that was one time!"

"You broke two dinner plates." the redhead presses.

"Well, they were fresh out of the dishwasher and piping hot, I nearly got second degree burns!" Brooke holds up her left hand to show the non-existing burn mark.

"Drama queen." Rachel rolls her eyes, unmoved by the brunette's plight.

"I love you mom but let's face it, you suck when it comes to household chores."

"In that case," Liza smoothly intervenes, "if one of you would be so kind as to point me to the right cabinet I will supervise the place settings." With her assigned task, she half heartedly pays attention to the conversation across the spacious kitchen.

"Oh Rach, I almost forgot the reason I came in here, your wedding dress just arrived from Badgley/Mischka." Brooke claps her hands excitedly, causing Rachel to give Sam a wry smile.

"And the curiosity of what it looks like must be eating you alive?"

"I have much more self restraint than you give me credit for, thank you very much." Brooke protests, placing her hands on her hips indignantly.

"Uh-huh?" Sam and Rachel both reply skeptically, much to the brunette's annoyance.

"Besides, Mark always does excellent work, I'm sure the dress is amazing."

"Their stuff is good but no where near as incredible as yours."

"My designs only look good because my muse is absolutely beautiful." she smiles sweetly at Rachel and the two are once again lost in their own little world.

"Ugh," Sam laments, "If you two are quite finished eye humping, can one of you grab the cheese pizza from the oven?"

"You know, you should give Jack a call Avril, a good make-out session will help alleviate some of that tension." Brooke teases her daughter, she snatches a green pepper slice from the chopping board and hops up onto the counter smirking as Sam turns beet red.

"Jack and I are just friends." The younger girl sputters.

"Please," Rachel snorts, donning the oven mitts to retrieve the bubbling hot pizza from the top of the double oven, while checking on dessert baking nicely in the bottom, "that boy is insanely in love with you. In fact, I think it's about time I sit down and have a little chat with him."

"You wouldn't?!"

"Hey it could be worst, I can leave him alone to have **The Talk **with her." Rachel nods her head in the brunette's direction and bursts into laughter at Sam's horrified expression.

* * *

"You know I have to say, you're really kinda terrible at this. I thought for sure anyone who has a pool table in their office would at least know the basics of the game."

Peyton squawks indignantly at the tall, ruggedly handsome man leaning his hip against the pool table.

"Fine, I'll admit that I'm not a shark but give me a little credit, dude." her protesting belies her actions as she mistakenly sinks the 8 ball into the side pocket, prematurely ending the game.

Her companion tosses his long golden tresses to the side, throwing his head back and laughing uproariously.

"Well…you distracted me." Peyton whines

"Of course," he agrees solemnly, "I was breathing way too loud over here, it's a wonder you could even think straight?"

"Ha ha," Peyton deadpans, retrieving the balls from the pocket holes, she starts to rack them back up, "best two out of three?"

Her opponent shrugs, a charming grin spreads across his face reaching all the way to his bright green eyes that has had Peyton mesmerized from the moment they met.

"If I'd known you sucked this much I would have put money down on that last game."

"Who's to say that my plan wasn't to lure you into a false sense of security and then once the stakes were high, I'd rob you blind?" It could happen, Peyton thinks, she's seen Brooke hustle enough unsuspecting guys over the years to know that it does work.

"Very crafty, but you're forgetting the key element to successfully pulling off a good con," leaning over the table he beckons Peyton forward to conspiringly whisper even though they are alone in her big office, "you have to be able to _play_ the game."

Peyton rolls her eyes but can't keep the good natured smile from spreading across her face, she raises her left hand to slap his muscular arm and freezes as her wedding ring comes into view and she's flooded with a wave of guilt. The past two hours having fun with a man that is not her husband suddenly doesn't seem like such an innocent act after all.

"Hey Peyton," he waves a hand in front of her face, snapping the blond out of her reverie, "you rackin' em or what?"

Peyton takes a deep breath, nearly choking on the intoxicating aroma of his woodsy cologne. '_This is simply a friendly game_,' she reminds herself, '_so what if the guy is drop dead_ _gorgeous? I love my husband, the man who is probably sitting at home this very minute obsessing over her best friend's impending nuptials instead of writing like he's suppose to be.'_

The tightly wound ball of guilt slackens in her chest at that thought, if Lucas can justify his concerns with Brooke's relationship then she should be able to spend time with the bassist of her newly signed band without it being more than what it is.

"Get ready to have your ass handed to ya, Mason."

* * *

"Brooke," Liza queries, passing the bowl of salad to Sam across the dinner table, "you've taking a sabbatical from work, correct?"

"Just for the summer," Brooke nods, "Ethan's only been with us for a few weeks and I've been knee deep in wedding preparations in addition to working on sketches for the fall line."

"And do you plan to have more children?"

"Yes, Rachel and I have been searching for a donor and we've just narrowed it down to three possibilities." Brooke smiles nervously at Rachel who gives her a supportive smile from across the table.

"Why not ask a friend," Liza suggests, "or Rachel your uncle Marcus would gladly donate, that way the child would be half Gattina."

"Right, cause Uncle Marcus impregnating my fiancée wouldn't be unsettling at all." Rachel snidely mumbles, leaning over to her side so she can cut Ethan's slice of pizza into smaller, more manageable bites.

"Most of our friends are either married or in committed relationships…"

"And the one jerk that would happily step up to the plate would have to do so over my dead body." Rachel vehemently comments, cutting up the food with a bit more force than necessary.

"And seeing as I don't want to become a widow or have to visit my wife in prison any time soon," Brooke cuts in before Rachel gets too worked up over Lucas' pigheaded stance on their relationship again, "we decided that anonymous is the way to go."

"I suppose having the donor apart of your everyday lives could be potentially problematic." Liza concedes, but stashes the idea away in her head to bring up at a later time.

It's glaringly obvious that Brooke loves Rachel every bit as much as Rachel loves her, so the fear that her daughter may be taken advantage of has been laid to rest. Yet, Rachel hasn't expressed an interest in giving birth to children herself and that could lead to issues concerning the rightful inheritance of the Gattina assets if Rachel's children don't have a blood connection to the family.

After dinner it was time for the games portion of the evening, one hour of Dance Dance Revolution played on the Wii.

"Alright who's up first?" Brooke calls out to the room.

"Let Momma G go first so she won't cheat." Sam suggests, flopping down comfortably onto the sofa, she wraps an arm loosely around her baby brother.

"What? How exactly can I cheat at this game?" Rachel grins at her daughter, already knowing what the answer will be.

"Easy, you let someone else go first, watch the mistakes they make and then memorize what not to do when it's your turn."

"That's not cheating," Rachel argues, "it's just good strategy. Besides, Brooke usually goes first and she tends to get over excited, abandoning the rules and making up her own routine, so we end up doing the complete opposite of what she does anyway."

"True," Sam agrees, furrowing her brow, "for a former head cheerleader you'd think she'd actually be able to follow the games routine."

"You guys are just jealous of my mad dance skills." Brooke pouts, sticking her tongue out at the duo.

"Then explain why your Mii has the lowest score?" Sam teases, dodging the pillow her mother tosses at her.

Liza sits unobtrusively in her armchair observing the dynamics of this peculiar family. All day long she watched as the three girls lobbed playful insults at each other, sarcasm laced with loving sentiments and every single one of them doting on the shy little boy who soaks up the attention like a dry sponge. Not for the first time since she reappeared in her daughter's life mere hours ago, Liza is ashamed to admit that she doesn't know her daughter as well as she thought. Has Rachel always been so kind? Has she always wanted a family? When did her spoiled, self-involved child stop getting herself into trouble and start taking responsibility for her actions?

Packing away the gamepad Brooke smiles as Rachel carefully hoists a half asleep Ethan in her arms, preparing to bring him upstairs, she plants a soft kiss to her lips.

"Hurry up and put the little guy to bed, the first costume change is in twenty minutes."

* * *

Moonlight spilling through the open balcony doors bathes their bedroom in a pale cool blue. Rachel searches the room for her lover, reaching out to turn on the bedside lamp she laughs out loud at the super imposed shadow of a bat that is cast onto the ceiling. The sheer white balcony curtains billowing in the wind draws aside and she can make out a thigh-high stiletto black boot followed by a shiny black latex micro skirt.

Brooke steps out of her hiding space, her outfit causing Rachel's jaw to unhinge in surprise.

"I saw the signal," she purrs, in an exaggerated breathy voice, "what dangers are lurking in the night?"

Brooke, decked out in a Sexy Batgirl costume complete with eye-mask, black leather thigh high boots, a cape, skin tight latex black bustier with the Batgirl insignia stitched onto the bodice and short skirt, is enough to render Rachel temporarily mute as she struts into the room and up to the other girl. Grasping the redheads waist, Brooke tugs her forward roughly, Rachel shivers eagerly, she's always loved this side of Brooke, the playful tussling is a major turn on. It's also a reassurance that Brooke is healing from the attack that nearly emotionally crippled her. That shrink is a miracle worker!

"The pants…lose em." Brooke demands, Rachel smirks to herself, her fingers quickly unfastening her jeans and she shimmies out of the tight denim. Brooke doesn't take charge often but when she does, dear God if the sound of that sultry husky voice barking orders at her isn't enough to reduce Rachel to a quivering puddle of goop.

"You're so fucking gorgeous." Brooke coos softly. Making quick work of Rachel's shirt she runs her hands up the other girl's chest, cupping each perfectly formed breast in her hands. Unhooking the bright blue bra, Brooke runs her leather clad hands over Rachel's naked body, up her neck to grasp her chin, fingers running along her supple lips and slipping a thumb into the redheads mouth. She moans as Rachel swirls her tongue around the gloved digit.

Rachel squirms under Brooke's intense study of her naked body, a self-deprecating remark poised on the tip of her tongue but Brooke beats her to it.

"You are, and before you go off on a tangent about how they're not real just think of it this way: you bought them, you've lived with them every day for years, so that automatically makes them yours."

Not wanting to get into a long discussion about her negative body image, Rachel settles for capturing the brunette's mouth with her own. She drags her nails over Brooke's legs, sliding her hand up the ultra short skirt and shivers in anticipation at what she finds.

"Dirty girl," She chuckles, "not wearing any underwear."

"We super heroes have much more important and pleasurable things to worry about." the brunette replies haughtily, while guiding Rachel backwards to the bed, pouncing on her the instant she falls onto her back.

Stalking up the bed with feline grace, Brooke straddled Rachel's waist, hovering above her lover. Rachel soaks in the sight of her fiancee, she tucks away a few stray hairs that has escaped Brooke's 'Super Hero hairdo', and marvels at the lengths this woman would go to just to make her happy.

"So Batgirl, may I call you Batgirl?"

Brooke gives a one shoulder shrug in reply, pursing her lips to hold back her giggles.

"I believe I was promised kink. This really sexy brunette stopped by my office this afternoon and promised that if I was nice to the Valkyrie, she'd make it worth my while."

"And were you well behaved?"

"I've been a fucking Girl Scout."

"Well then I suppose you've earned your reward, I'll give Millie a call and have her come over right away." Pretending to stand up, Brooke squeaks in protest as Rachel tightens her hold on her waist.

"Sarcastic little skank." she laughs, pulling the brunette down for a kiss.

Brooke leans into her, deepening the kiss immediately until her lungs began to burn and she's forced to pull away. With a devious smirk, she leans over the side of the bed and rifles through the nightstands bottom drawer.

"Is that?" Rachel quirks an eyebrow as Brooke tears open the package she had hidden earlier that week.

"This is the strap-on that features a vaginal plug that teases the wearer and a attachment that pleases the receiver. The bonus of this style is that as the wearer thrusts, it will cause the vaginal plug to thrust as well, giving equal sensations to both partners at the same time." Showing their new toy from every angle Brooke lies in wait for Rachel's response.

"Wow," Rachel whistles softly, "you weren't kidding around when you said Level 3 Kink, huh?"

"Hey if you're gonna make fun I can get rid of this…"

"I'm joking lil miss sensitive, I just…where the hell did you find this thing?"

"Ethan naps like 40% of the day, there's only so many talk shows and fake celebrity judge programs you can watch without losing your mind, so I sorta surf the web a lot. Do you like it?" she asks timidly, this was not the reaction she expected when she purchased the toy. Rachel takes another thoughtful inspection of the devise, then reaches into the top drawer of the nightstand for the bottle of lube she stashed away.

"Alright Davis," she purrs, "show me what you got."

With the harness already on, Brooke excitedly lubes up the toy, then straps the contraption into place. She gasps as the little stub glides into her, taking a moment to savor the sensation then positions the longer edge of the toy at Rachel's slick entrance. Clenching her inner walls she abruptly pushes forward, just the way Rachel likes it, a smile breaking out on her parted lips as Rachel's hips surge forward to meet hers.

Rachel's breath hitches in her throat, her hands clench tightly in the material of Brooke's costume. Nodding her head at Brooke's concern glance, she arches her back as Brooke pulls out then surges forward into her body. Her eyes flutter closed but she quickly snaps them back open, not wanting to miss a second of this experience.

Brooke leans over, resting her palms flat on either side of Rachel, she drags her teeth over the sensitive skin of Rachel's neck before venturing lower and engulfing a hardened nipple into her mouth. Rachel moans deep in her throat, she claws at Brooke's hips, pressing their lower halves together in a desperate attempt to cause as much friction between them as possible.

Her first orgasm, hits like an electrical shockwave, sending them both into a frenzy of wildly thrusting hips, groping hands and battling tongues. Brooke has her legs bent at an angle she didn't think herself capable of achieving. As the second orgasm approaches, the edges of her vision darkens momentarily and she forgets to breathe. She let's out a long piercing moan that intermingles with Brooke's, not caring if she wakes up the entire neighborhood.

Rachel flips Brooke over onto her back, thrusting languidly into the other girl as she rides out the after effects.

"Dear God, that was amazing!" Brooke pants, running her fingers through Rachel's disheveled auburn locks. "And because you just succeeded in rocking my world, I have one more surprise for you. On the utility belt, third pocket from the left."

Rachel quirks an eyebrow, flipping the snap open she digs her hand inside the pouch and as her fingers curl around a hard felt covered box a wide smile spreads across her kiss swollen lips. The box makes a tiny creaking noise as she lifts the lid, moonlight immediately catching the diamond and reflects a myriad of warm golden lights swirling together into a cloud.

"I saw this color and it instantly made me think of you," Brooke quietly explains, lifting the diamond ring and clasping her fiancee's left hand in hers.

The radiant 6 carat cognac diamond sits proudly perched on a gold band with a trail of 1carat baguette white diamonds adorning the sides. Rachel stares in awe at her gift, for some strange reason it never occurred to her that Brooke would get her an engagement ring as well, not that they assigned roles in their relationship but Rachel appears to have a more level head so she tends to take the lead most often.

"I must have searched through the dealers entire stock before I found the one that matches your eyes perfectly. Once I had the right stone, designing the band and setting was a cinch."

"It's beautiful." Rachel whispers

"My girl deserves beautiful things," Brooke murmurs, wiping away a tear from the redheads cheek, "The ring you gave me was special to you, your grandmother's so I wanted you to have something equally special. Tailor made for Rachel Isobella Gattina, a true one of a kind."

A/N: So many people hyped up the kink that I'm afraid I had a difficult time delivering, sorry. But you'll be glad to know that I have a good portion of the next chapter written as well as a sizable chunk of 'The Bad Girl All the Good Boys Want', and I'll try my best not to go so long without updating, thanks again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Distant Dreamer**

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the CW and Schwahn

**Chapter 11: I Just Want To Be Happy**

Running her fingers through the soft ruby locks, Brooke grins to herself, immensely pleased that Rachel loved the Batgirl costume and stifles a laugh as she recalls the looks she received once she changed into the sexy Firewoman outfit. That costume resulted in many bad puns and Brooke labeling Rachel a _'Fire-crotch'_.

"Hey Rach, you up?"

Mumbling incoherently in reply, Rachel loops an arm around Brooke's waist, drawing her close and snuggling further beneath the warm blankets.

"So yesterday while I was helping your mom get settled into the guest room, we got to talking about our relationship and I started thinking about how we really kinda rushed things between us."

Rachel instantly stiffens, slowly lifting her head from the pillows to stare at Brooke with a guarded expression.

"What I mean to say is…well look at you. You've been working 10 hour days and come home to help me with the kids…I think we need a little break."

"What sort of break?"

"Rachel will you go on a date with me this Friday?" Brooke asks timidly. Rachel stares at her in confusion but once the words translate in her brain that Brooke wasn't trying to break up with her weeks before their wedding, she laughs nervously at her lover.

"I've never really been on a legitimate date before," a sadness radiating from her soft brown eyes, "it was always, cheap hook-ups at a party."

"Well then I'll just have to make our first official date a night to remember." Brooke gives her a dimpled smile, excitedly bouncing in place.

"Sounds nice," Rachel admits, and as an afterthought she points a finger at Brooke and warns, "but you can toss out any thoughts about tattoo's or piercings right now, Davis."

* * *

Drumming her boney fingers repeated against the cold wooden surface of their kitchen table, Peyton bites her bottom lip nervously, staring hard at her cell phone as it dances across the tabletop before her. The calls started promptly at 7 a.m. causing Peyton to switch the phone to vibrate so it wouldn't wake Lucas. Pressing the 'ignore' button she lets out a relieved gush of breath as the call is redirected to voicemail.

"It doesn't mean anything," Peyton reminds herself, burying her head in her hands. "I love Luke, we belong together, our love has surpassed every other fling we've used to distract ourselves from the fact that we're destined to be together and nothing will ever change." So lost in thought, she nearly falls off her chair in fright when the monotonic chime sounds, signaling an incoming text.

'_we need 2 talk'_

'_ur bands n da studio at 11'_

'_b4 the others come'_

'_Im married' _

'_that didn't matter last nite'_

* * *

Trudging into the kitchen fully dressed yet still half asleep, Sam flops into a chair and blurrily reaches for the coffee carafe Liza set on the table. Liza hides an amused smirk behind her own mug, as the young girl haphazardly tosses multiple teaspoons of sugar into her very large coffee cup. After two sips of the fortifying elixir it appears that Sam is now somewhat awake and ready for a conversation. Sam looks up, finally noticing her breakfast companion and gives her a smirk.

"From your wide eyed and bushy tail appearance it seems that the earplugs I gave you last night were a good call?"

"Yes, that coupled with the sleeping pill I took resulted in an _almost_ undisrupted rest."

They sit in silence for a moment, each trying hard not to imagine what was the cause of all of the moaning and laughing coming from the master bedroom until well after midnight.

"That's not all they're about, you know." Sam breaks the silence, feeling the need to defend her mothers from any bad perceptions Liza may have concluded, "I mean yeah half the time they can't keep their hands off of each other and in the beginning it annoyed the Hell outta me but it goes deeper than that. Brooke…Brooke was attacked in her store a few days before Rachel came back to town."

"Attacked? Goodness, was she…?" Liza places a hand to her chest aghast, in the few hours she spent yesterday with Brooke as she was given a tour of their home, Liza has taken an instant liking to her daughter's fiancée.

"No, but he…she was covered from like head to toe in bruises." Closing her eyes, Sam takes a deep breath. Even after all of these months it's still difficult to think about the pain she inadvertently caused her mother, especially because Brooke was so forgiving when she had ever right to banish Sam from their lives forever. "She kinda closed herself off, didn't even report it to the cops or tell anyone for that matter. She just locked herself away in her house, pushing everyone away until Rachel came back and demanded to know exactly what happened. There was a lot going on with Brooke's company and her mother and Rachel was a big help in getting her back on track. Together they took full control of the company and sent Victoria packing, it sounds harsh but from what I've seen and heard about the woman there's no real love lost. Anyway, Brooke was in a really dark place, she isolated herself and her so-called friends just let her wallow in her misery, that's the thing that just pisses me off about Lucas 'Lubejob' Scott talking crap about Brooke and Rachel being together. If it weren't for Rach, Brooke probably would have blown her brains out or something."

"And she didn't tell anyone about this assault?"

"Well, she told Deb, uncle Nate's mom, fat load of good that did, I mean Deb is nice but she's not the most stable of creatures and she ended up taking Brooke to buy a gun and taught her how to shoot."

"I've read that that's not uncommon, purchasing a gun after an ordeal such as that gives the victim a sense of control."

"Rachel had her get rid of it, they're taking Tae Kwon Do lessons, its taken her a while but she finally reached a good place and Rachel was right there with her all the way."

* * *

Pushing open the plate glass door, Lucas squints his baby blue eyes as they adjust to the dim lighting of the coffee shop. Spotting a head of wavy brown hair, he makes his way over to his sister-in-law, placing a kiss to her temple in greeting before sliding his wary bones into the vinyl booth.

"Morning Hales, not that I'm not happy to have breakfast with my best friend but why did we have to meet here?" annoyed, Lucas brushes his hand across the tabletop to rid himself of the sugar that should have been wiped clean from the last customer, it was times like this that he really missed the quality of service at Karen's café.

"I was hoping that with so many witnesses around, it would squelch my desire to throttle you."

"What?" Laughing nervously, Lucas tries to shake off the unease growing in his stomach at the murderous gleam in Haley's brown eyes.

"Have you completely lost your mind, Lucas Scott?!" rolling up the half finished manuscript in her hands, Haley reaches over the wobbly table and gives in to the urge to beat her clueless friend senseless.

"Ouch, Hales cut it out." struggling to get away from the petite woman pummeling him about the head, with great difficulty Lucas manages to wrestle away her weapon, smoothing it out onto the table and giving Haley an exasperated glare. "Wanna tell me what that was all about? You know most editors just use a red pen to cross out the parts of a book that they don't like."

"Please explain to me what the hell you were thinking when you wrote this Lucas."

"I was _thinking_ that it would be a great story, it has all of the elements that my editors are looking for in a best seller…"

"A great story? This is an absolute load of crap!"

"Hey!"

"Half of it isn't even true, this is not the way things happened Lucas and you must be out of your mind if you think that Rachel would ever allow this book to even see the light of day."

"I don't need Gattina's permission to write about…" Lucas growls through clenched teeth.

"When you write a book based on the terrible events that nearly destroyed her family then you damn sure better believe she's gonna have something to say about it!"

"I don't see what the big issue is here, I mean you all had no problem with my first book and the school shooting and in case you've forgotten my uncle was killed in that one."

"That's because we knew that writing about Keith's death was your way of finally being able to heal but this…" a twinge of sadness creeps into her chest at the thought of what a kind man Keith Scott was and his loving relationship with Lucas. "Luke you have no right to make what happened public knowledge and you _definitely_ haven't the right to sensationalize the events just to sell a book!"

"Look, I'll admit that I may have embellished a few details but…"

"A few details!" snatching the loosely bound papers from his grasp, Haley hurriedly flips through the pages until she lands on the spot she dog eared. _"Her tiny fists pounds on the door with all of her might, screaming to be granted admittance. Once the door was cracked just an inch she forces her way into the derelict house, pushing the hulking form out of her way amid a cloud of pepper spray. The man claws at his eyes howling in pain as she delivers a powerful kick to his midsection, he's down for the count she makes a run for the back room screaming out the name of the hapless girl she knows is hidden somewhere within these ramshackle walls.'_

Tossing the first draft of Lucas' new book back onto the table in disgust, Haley pins the scruffy blond with her best motherly disapproval face.

"Alright, so I embellished a lot," Lucas finally admits, scratching his permanent five o'clock shadow he tries to offer a boyish grin but Haley's cold stare has him gulping back a tremor of fear.

"This isn't a game Luke."

"I know that, I wasn't trying to belittle what happened to Brooke, in fact what I wrote just proves that Brooke is still the same strong, brave and compassionate woman I love," eyes bulging in fear at his flub, Lucas hastily adds, "we love."

"You weren't there to watch her pace the floors for hours without sleep, terrified that she had lost her daughter and blaming herself for not being able to get past her shock sooner and stop Sam from running away."

Hanging his head in shame, Lucas has no choice but to admit to himself that making Brooke and her attack the focus of his book wasn't the brightest idea.

"And what about Quinten's mother, does she deserve you making a profit off of her son's murder?"

Damn, he'd completely forgotten about Mrs. Fields and the gas station attendant that the maniac X gunned down in cold blood, not to mention all of the other robberies and assaults that were later connected to the guy.

"Alright Hales, I see your point," begrudgingly accepting defeat, Lucas sighs heavily, trying to come up with a way to break the news to his friend that he had already sent a good portion of the book to his publishers and they raved about it, giving him a nice big advance that Peyton plans to use to pay for their fertility treatments.

Thinking she has gotten through her brother-in-law's thick skull, Haley flags down a waitress to take their orders.

"It's not that I didn't think it was well written, it's just a little too soon, you know? Brooke's happy, she has the family she's always wanted and things at work are good. She deserves to be able to enjoy the good things in her life, Luke." nodding in agreement, Luke feels a crushing weight of guilt for not getting his friend's permission before essentially writing about her life. Completely focused on his current dilemma, Lucas somehow managed to zone out the rest of Haley's conversation, "…and what's the title of this book, '_The Beetle'_?"

* * *

Rachel and Brooke sneak off to their room for some privacy. Pushing Brooke up against the closed door Rachel fumbles with the lock, kissing Brooke deliriously. It's been days since they've been able to find time to be alone, what with two kids, Rachel working long hours, Brooke in wedding prep overdrive and the ogre known as Liza Gattina patrolling the halls of her home, Rachel is ready to spontaneously combust if she can't find that sweet release only Brooke can provide.

"I've missed you so much," Rachel moans against Brooke's lips, "never go this long without touching you."

"Need you now Rach, please." Brooke begs

Brooke hooks her leg onto Rachel's hip, moving against the redhead to the point of distraction. Rachel growls in response, biting Brooke's bottom lip then suckling gently as she hoists the brunette into her arms and tumbles them backwards onto the bed. Their mouths still attached Rachel arches her back to unbutton her blouse, her hips surging forward to meet Brooke's wandering hands sliding up her skirt. She squeaks in surprise as the elastic of her panties snaps sharply against her sensitive skin, scowling at her lover who breaks out in peals of laughter.

"Not so much fun when it's your undies being torn to shreds now is it?" Brooke taunts, waving the tattered remains of Rachel's lace panties in the air.

"Jeez slutface, a little warning next time, there's an art form to this sort of thing, you know?"

"Yes, I'm sure they teach a class at the Learning Annex, '25 Sexy Ways to Remove A Girl's G-string'."

"Lucky for you I got a gold star in that class."

Gripping a handful of curly russet colored hair, Rachel tips her head meeting Brooke halfway for a mind-boggling kiss. With Brooke's nails digging into the flesh of her bare ass, forcing her to ride the brunettes thigh hard, Rachel reaches under her lover's shirt, pushes aside her bra to cup her full breast. She can feel the wonderful tingles starting at the base of her spine, the heat building between her thighs and just as Brooke's thumb begins to circle her clit a loud knocking on their bedroom door interrupts her pleasure.

"_Girls?"_ Liza calls through the thick oak dividing them.

"Fucccckkkkk!" Rachel snarls in frustration, the sound of her mother's voice effectively extinguishing her approaching orgasm.

"How does she always know?" Brooke complains, trying to sit up but Rachel is still straddling her body so she settles from propping herself up onto her elbows.

"Total poon blocker!"

"_Rachel if you would be so kind as to let your fiancée up for a moment, we have a few wedding fires to put out."_

"Let the damn place burn for all I care!"

"Give me twenty minutes to deal with…whatever, in the mean time why don't you run a nice relaxing bath and take care of yourself, hm?"

"I don't want to _Brooke Myself_." Rachel pouts petulantly "I wanna be **Brooked!"**

"I'll go see want your mother wants and then baby," capturing Rachel's lips in a smoldering kiss, "I will _Brooke_ you all night long!" slipping out from underneath her gorgeous woman, she quickly walks into the bathroom to freshen up, no sense in proving Liza correct about what they were doing behind closed doors.

* * *

Descending the last marble step, Rachel cocks her head to the left, hearing voices coming from Brooke's home office. She can see Brooke through the half open door, sitting primly on the cream colored chaise lounge, various papers spread before her and Liza pacing behind the antique desk, barking demands into the phone.

Hiking her cotton robe up her thighs a bit, Rachel slides into the slither of space between Brooke's body and the armrest of the chaise. Her arms immediately circles the brunette who in return eagerly leans back into the embrace, letting out a gentle sigh and craning her neck for a kiss.

"Did you enjoy your bath?" the innocent question was anything but and a smile tugs at Rachel's mouth.

"It's kinda like playing Madden 09 by yourself, you can score but unless someone else is playing with you, how can you really enjoy it."

"Poor baby, can't work the controller buttons quite like me huh?"

"You are a pro, I've been saying it for years."

Shutting the redhead up with a kiss, Brooke lets out a content breath, basking in the knowledge that soon they will officially begin their lives together.

"I can't wait to be yours." she murmurs into the warm skin of Rachel's neck.

"Me either but technically I've been yours almost from the moment we met. The wedding band and that official piece of paper simply gives me the legal right to bitchslap anyone who dares to touch you."

"Is it safe to turn around or shall I give you two another moment?" Liza asks from across the room, effectively bursting the little Brachel bubble.

"Yes, another minute if you don't mind mother, Brooke has just discovered that I'm not wearing anything underneath my robe."

"Charming as always my precious girl," Liza drolls, tentatively turning around to find them both still dressed, "but if you can contain yourself long enough for me to explain where we are at in the disaster prevention planning then you will be free to go upstairs and continue what I interrupted earlier?"

"Proceed."

"Well, after some digging I was able to find the culprit responsible for leaking the location of your wedding to the press, apparently a disgruntle member of the waitstaff decided to make a few extra bucks by contacting those dreadful tabloids and now there are at least ten news crews stationed outside of the Inn in Connecticut."

"Ugh, I don't know why we ever thought that we would be able to have a nice quiet family affair without the vultures circling us like a fresh corpse."

"Nice imagery," Rachel snorts, nudging her ever dramatic partner, "so I'm hearing a problem but the face you're wearing mom, tells me you already have a solution."

"I do at that." strutting over to the pair still lounging on the chaise, Liza smiles deviously as she hands them the papers her office just faxed over. "This should do quite nicely, my dears."

A/N: Kind of ends on a cliffhanger but the wedding is in the next chapter and I wanted to seperate it from what I have here. So enjoy, and maybe I'll have time to post again before the end of the week now that the fall term is over!


	12. Chapter 12

**Distant Dreamer **

Disclaimer: Characters are the property of the CW and Schwahn

A/N: For those of you who have still been reading this fic, let me first apologize profusely for the long ass wait. This chapter is kind of short and it jumps around a bit but the best way to get comfortable with writing again is to just post and see what happens. So enjoy and again sorry for the wait, I always hate it when my favorite fic just drops dead.

* Caution the following contains excessive amounts of Fluff. Please be advised! *

**Chapter 12: As Long As You're Mine **

_**Coming up on the next E! News: **_

'_**Is the Brachel Wedding off?', our sources report that the famed Fashion Designer Brooke Davis and her fiancée, former supermodel Rachel Gattina, along with the wedding party including Charlotte Bobcats Point Guard Nathan Scott, never checked into the lavish Simsbury Inn. The wedding was set to take place in Connecticut over a four day weekend beginning yesterday. Speculation about the daring duo was raised when they announced their relationship out of the blue last February. The couple was spotted getting cozy at their close friend Kristen Bell's latest movie premier, last Friday night, putting to rest the doubts that they're really a couple. We'll have more on the would be wedding tonight at 7.' **_

One of the first thoughts that entered Rachel's mind when her mother suggested that the wedding to the love of her life take place on one of their company's newest luxury cruise ships was _'Millicent is going to have a field day with the seasickness'_. With a frown she realized that she had spoken the words aloud and noted with dissatisfaction that _Bitchel_ is getting soft.

But then her slim waist is encircled by soft familiar arms, voicing her concern for Millie has earned her a mega-watt dimpled smile and a kiss that threatened to steal her soul. If she has to behave like a marshmallow from time to time in order to receive those type of rewards, then _hell_, it's more than worth it! Later that night, as they make love for hours, Rachel's pretty sure she's caused permanent damage to her vocal chords from all of her moaning.

* * *

"Waiting for an important call?" Peyton nearly jumps four feet into the air as her husband sneaks up behind her. "You'd better hurry, once the ship leaves the port we'll only be able to get cell reception for a few miles off of the coast."

"Yeah, no…" Peyton stutters, trying to casually brush off the fact that she keeps checking her phone every two minutes "it's not a big deal, I was just trying to remember if there was anything else I forgot to tell my secretary, but it's all good."

"Good, cause I just heard Brooke banning almost all forms of communication for the next three days." He laughs, not really noticing that his wife is still a bit uneasy. Actually, Lucas has been so focused on his latest manuscript that he hasn't paid more than five minutes attention to her in the past three weeks. Normally this would have been cause for Peyton to mope excessively but she's grateful for the extra breathing room her husband has unwittingly provided while she tries to wrap her mind around the '_Mason Debacle'_.

Boarding the cruise ship, Lucas stands off to the side, idly staring into space as he waits for their rather large group to finish gathering their keycards.

"I see you brought your macbook," Liza nods at the '_Ravens_' blue laptop bag hanging off of Lucas' shoulder, "That's good you're going to need it."

"Excuse me?" Lucas squints his eyes in confusion.

"You'll have to really buckle down and focus in order to send your publishers another manuscript by next week. That is, if you don't want them to revoke that great big advance you were given."

"How did you…did Haley…?"

"I have many friends in New York, Scott." Liza says in a somewhat bored yet chillingly threatening tone. "Imagine my surprise when I get a call informing me that there's a manuscript floating around about a fashion designer who was brutally attacked in her own store only to find out later that the delinquent teen she was fostering was indirectly responsible for her assault all along. The fact that you would write about something so personal concerning someone you call your _friend_ and without her knowledge or consent, is despicable."

"I planned to tell Brooke," Lucas stammers, "and she's always been supportive of my writing no matter the subject."

Lucas can't be certain but he's reasonably sure there are tiny bright orange flames burning in the retinas of Mrs. Gattina's eyes. She spares him the most scathing glance he's ever born witness to and brushes aside his pitiful excuse.

"Perhaps you should try writing about something more align with your talents, Sparkling Vampires, for instance?"

With one last sneer marring her gracefully aging face, Liza leaves Lucas standing there feeling about two feet tall. He knows he's put off telling Brooke about his new book for too long but he really was hoping that his manuscript would be received well amongst his friends.

"Haley," Lucas shouts, spotting the brunette crouched down helping her son zip up his backpack before sending him further ahead to meet up with Ethan. Lucas grips her elbow in his hand and pulls her away from the moving crowd. "who have you been talking to about my manuscript?"

"Ease off grabby," Haley shakes her arm loose from her brother-in-law's surprisingly not gentle grasp. "I haven't said a word to anyone, why?"

Lucas gives her a mildly apologetic look as he runs a hand down his face and scratches at his five o'clock shadowed chin.

"Mrs. Gattina is urging me to drop the publication immediately, and that was just putting it lightly, I'm half expecting to wake up with a severed horse's head in my bed come morning."

"That is so incredibly racist Lucas." Haley snorts but can secretly admit that Liza Gattina does give off the sort of air that she would be capable of doing just that and so much worse if crossed.

"I don't see what the big deal is here Hales, is my book any less believable than when Brooke fought off Ian Banks and helped rescue Peyton from that psycho?"

"And you're what, just rehashing old storylines like some cheesy soap opera, Lucas?" Haley furrows her brow, really beginning to get fed up with this drama. "Next thing I know you'll be pitching this as one of those contrived over sexed teen dramas to the CW Network!"

"I've put a lot of work into this book," Lucas unyieldingly whines, "I can't come up with something this late in the game to replace it."

"Look Luke, just talk to Brooke before you go ahead with anything, alright. That attack was very traumatic for her, not to mention that Quentin's mother is still recovering from the loss of her son. You'd be surprised how supportive people are when you simply ask for permission before taking liberties with their lives." She gives her confused friend a pat on the arm then heads off to find her family. This was suppose to be a fun and relaxing mini vacation and already Haley is tallying how many people will come close to getting their asses tossed overboard.

* * *

"Hey Skills, got a second?"

Skills rubs his bald head in apprehension, rarely does Rachel actually speak to him even though she's so close to his best friend Mouth and surprisingly pretty tight with Junk and Fergie.

"S'up red?"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind entertaining a friend of mine," motioning to the tall gorgeous Brazilian woman with flawless tanned skin currently making her way over to where they were standing. Skills' mouth actually drops open in disbelief.

"Isn't that…?"

"Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio, yes it is." Rachel smirks at his gob smacked expression. "I figured since Deb brought along her new piece of age appropriate man-candy," nodding her head in the direction of the older blond woman and her date mingling with her parents, "that you should be able to flaunt a bit too. Have fun."

Skills shakes his head, wondering for the life of him, exactly _why_ didn't he get along with Rachel? The girl is totally awesome!

* * *

"Momma!" It's funny how a year ago, Rachel would have just let that plea sail right past her. But now she hastens in the direction of her daughter's call of distress, stopping dead in her tracks and sighing irritably at what Sam beckoned her to witness.

"Brooke, no just…no." Rachel states firmly. She crosses her arms over her chest to further demonstrate her objection to the sight before her while chanting '_I Will Not Cave, I Will Not Cave!_' repeatedly in her head.

"Oh come on, he looks so cute!" Brooke gushes, turning Ethan around in a little circle so that Rachel can get the full view of the authentic Naval Officer uniform she designed for their son.

"He's a five year old _boy_ Brooke, not one of those Build-A-Bear toys. Quit being nuts and let him dress for real so we can go to dinner." Rachel mentally pats herself on the back for staying firmly in the sane zone and not giving in to Brooke's sad puppy eyes.

Perhaps she's building up an immunity, cause Rachel is pretty sure a month ago she would have given in to her fiancee's eccentric whims, sent Sam and Ethan down to the dining hall and spent the next few hours overindulging in her girl. Actually, that last part does sound like fun.

"I think he looks adorable." Liza agrees, running her hand down the lapel of the uniform and smiling at her grandson's pleased expression.

"Thank you Liza, at least _someone_ appreciates my talent." Brooke pointedly pouts at Sam and Rachel.

"Just so you know, this unholy union the two of you have formed will be disbanded the instant this wedding is over, comprende?" she knows she should be grateful that Brooke and her mother get along so well but Rachel can't help but feel somewhat creep'd out by the situation. And she doesn't even want to speculate on what the pair talks about when she's not around.

"And just think, soon you'll be married to all that crazy." Sam snorts, reaching for her brother's hand to lead him back into their shared stateroom to change.

* * *

Letting loose a long whistle of approval, Skills does a 360 spin, taking in the large two bedroom stateroom he's sharing with Mouth and Millie.

"Damn, this is so much cooler than hanging out in some fancy Inn all weekend, eatin' finger sandwiches and taking nature walks. Why did they change it at the last minute anyway?"

"The press found out where we were going to be." Mouth answers, lugging his and Millie's heavy suitcases into their room then joining Skills back in the spacious living room.

"Yeah but there would have been security at the hotel right? Brooke and Rachel have been dealing with the press for months, what difference does it make?" Skills scratches his head in confusion.

"Okay so it wasn't just the press they were worried about," Millie admits tiredly as she carefully lays down on the leather couch and figthing back a sudden wave of nausia. They were barely a few miles away from shore and she's dreading how much worse its going to get when they hit open waters. "Liza found out that Vipertoria was planning to crash the wedding. We think she either had one of her minions rat us out or she divined the location in the mist of her cauldron. Either way, Liza wanted to play it safe and made sure that wretched woman couldn't get anywhere near Rachel and Brooke."

"So mama Gattina's playing hard D? Who do you think would win in a Battle till the Death match?"

"No way," Mouth points an accusatory finger at his friend, "that right there, that little twinkle in your eyes is exactly the reason Rachel made sure you had someone to occupy your time with this weekend."

"A man dates an older chick once and suddenly everybody's lockin up all the women over thirty." Skills gripes, shaking his head in feigned hurt he enters his bedroom to change clothes. After all he does have a Victoria's Secret Angel to entertained, his little jaunt into Cougar Town will be nothing but a faint memory after this weekend is over.


End file.
